CYCLIC PATTERNS IN JOHN COLTRANE’S MELODIC VOCABULARY AS

Transcription

CYCLIC PATTERNS IN JOHN COLTRANE’S MELODIC VOCABULARY AS
INFLUENCED BY NICOLAS SLONIMSKY’S THESAURUS OF SCALES AND
MELODIC PATTERNS: AN ANALYSIS OF SELECTED IMPROVISATIONS
Jeff Bair, B.M.E., M.M.
Dissertation Prepared For the Degree of
DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
August 2003
APPROVED:
James Riggs, Major Professor
Graham Phipps, Minor Professor
Deanna Bush, Committee Member
John Murphy, Committee Member
James C. Scott, Dean of the College of Music
C. Neal Tate, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse
School of Graduate Studies
Bair, Jeff, Cyclic Patterns in John Coltrane’s Melodic Vocabulary as Influenced
by Nicolas Slonimsky’s Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns: An Analysis
of Selected Improvisations. Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance), August 2003,
112 pp., 76 musical examples, references.
This study documents and analyzes cyclic patterns used as melodic
vocabulary in John Coltrane's improvisations from compositions of 1965 to 1967.
The analysis is categorized in two distinct sections. The first section analyzes
melodic vocabulary that is derived from the cycle of descending major thirds
progressions found in the compositions of 1959 to 1960. The second section
analyzes melodic vocabulary that is derived from Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus
of Scales and Melodic Patterns using the theoretical terminology incorporated in
the treatise. Musical examples consist of patterns from the Thesaurus and
excerpts from selected improvisations of John Coltrane as transcribed by Andrew
White.
Important scholarly contributions relevant to the subject by Carl Woideck,
Lewis Porter, David Demsey, and Walt Weiskopf are included. Every effort has
been made to cite interviews with musicians and commentaries by writers
contemporary to that period of time with special emphasis on the important
influence of Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Ornette Coleman.
Chapter headings include: Literature Review and Methodology;
Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Ornette Coleman: Converging Influences;
Analysis: Coltrane's Major Thirds Harmonic Cycles Used as Melodic Vocabulary;
Interval Cycles in Coltrane's Melodic Vocabulary Based on Patterns from
Slonimsky’s Thesaurus; Summary and Conclusion.
Copyright 2003
by
Jeff Bair
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
page
LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES .....................................................................................iv
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER
1. LITERATURE REVIEW AND METHODOLOGY .................................................. 1
2. THELONIOUS MONK, MILES DAVIS AND ORNETTE COLEMAN:
CONVERGING INFLUENCES ........................................................................... 23
3. ANALYSIS: COLTRANE'S MAJOR THIRDS HARMONIC CYCLES USED AS
MELODIC VOCABULARY.................................................................................. 34
4. INTERVAL CYCLES IN COLTRANE'S MELODIC VOCABULARY BASED ON
PATTERNS FROM SLONIMSKY’S THESAURUS............................................. 57
5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION...................................................................... 109
SELECTED BIBILIOGRAPHY..................................................................................... 113
iii
LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES
Example
page
1.
John Coltrane, chord progression of Giant Steps, transcribed by Andrew White . 2
2.
Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, table from the
Introduction........................................................................................................... 7
3.
Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns,#286 .................. 8
4.
Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, pattern #372 ... 35
5.
John Coltrane, Brasilia, transcribed by Andrew White........................................ 36
6.
7.
John Coltrane, Brasilia, transcribed by Andrew White ....................................... 38
8.
9.
10.
John Coltrane, Nature Boy, transcribed by Andrew White.................................. 42
11.
John Coltrane, After the Crescent, transcribed by Andrew White....................... 44
12.
John Coltrane, After the Crescent, transcribed by Andrew White....................... 45
13.
John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, transcribed by Andrew White .................... 46
14.
15.
John Coltrane, Peace and After (from Suite), transcribed by Andrew White ...... 48
16.
John Coltrane, Transition, transcribed by Andrew White.................................... 49
17.
John Coltrane, Untitled 90314, transcribed by Andrew White ............................ 50
18.
19.
20.
iv
21.
John Coltrane, Mars, Transcribed by Andrew White .......................................... 54
22.
John Coltrane, Mars, Transcribed by Andrew White .......................................... 55
23.
John Coltrane, Mars, transcribed by Andrew White............................................ 58
24.
Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, #574 ............... 59
25.
26.
John Coltrane, Jupiter, transcribed by Andrew White......................................... 60
27.
Nicloas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, pattern #892 ... 61
28.
John Coltrane, Saturn, transcribed by Andrew White ......................................... 62
29.
30.
John Coltrane, Venus, transcribed by Andrew White ......................................... 63
31.
Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, #270, ditone
Progression with Infrapolation of Three Notes.................................................... 64
32.
John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, melody (beginning), transcribed by Andrew
White .................................................................................................................. 65
33.
John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, improvisation, transcribed by Andrew White
........................................................................................................................... 66
34.
John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, melody (return), transcribed by Andrew White
........................................................................................................................... 67
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
v
40.
John Coltrane, Nature Boy (2/17/65), transcribed by Andrew White .................. 72
41.
John Coltrane, Nature Boy (2/18/65), transcribed by Andrew White .................. 73
42.
43.
John Coltrane, Song of Praise, transcribed by Andrew White ............................ 75
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
John Coltrane, I Want to Talk About You, transcribed by Andrew White............ 80
49.
50.
John Coltrane, Jupiter, transcribed by Andrew White......................................... 82
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, #2 ................... 88
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
John Coltrane, Offering, transcribed by Andrew White....................................... 92
61.
62.
John Coltrane, Venus, transcribed by Andrew White ......................................... 94
vi
63.
Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, pattern #2 and #3
........................................................................................................................... 95
64.
Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, pattern #28 ..... 96
65.
John Coltrane, Untitled Original 90314, transcribed by Andrew White ............... 97
66.
Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, pattern #30 ..... 97
67.
John Coltrane, Untitled Original 90314, transcribed by Andrew White ............... 98
68.
69.
John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, transcribed by Andrew White .................. 100
70.
71.
John Coltrane, Nature Boy, transcribed by Andrew White................................ 102
72.
73.
John Coltrane, Nature Boy, transcribed by Andrew White................................ 104
74.
75.
John Coltrane, Transition, transcribed by Andrew White.................................. 106
76.
John Coltrane, Chim Chim Cheree, transcribed by Andrew White ................... 107
vii
INTRODUCTION
Jazz improvisation by the great masters reveals an extremely high level of artistry.
Most of these musicians continually perfected their craft, drawing on new material for
inspiration and experimenting with harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic elements that led to
innovation. Due to his many unique contributions to the jazz style, John Coltrane must be
regarded as one of the greatest innovators of the twentieth-century. The introduction of
harmonic and melodic interval cycles into jazz repertoire is just one of the many
innovations initiated by Coltrane that has had a lasting impact on the style of jazz music.
This study will document melodic vocabulary in John Coltrane’s improvisations from 1965
to 1967. The melodic vocabulary of this period will be divided and analyzed in two
categorical sections. The first section will analyze melodic vocabulary that is derived from
the cycle of descending major thirds progressions found in John Coltrane’s compositions
of 1959 to 1960, which scholars have traced to the Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic
Patterns by Nicolas Slonimsky1. The second section will analyze melodic vocabulary that
is derived from the Thesaurus using the theoretical terminology incorporated in the
treatise. Using the terminology included in the treatise to analyze John Coltrane’s cyclic
patterns also serves the purpose of understanding the Thesaurus from a pedagogical
standpoint and creating the opportunity for this vocabulary to be extensively assimilated
into the language of jazz. Fortunately, many references to the development of this
vocabulary survive in documented interviews with John Coltrane and those musicians
most closely associated with him. Observations by jazz critics and writers contemporary
to that time period and the present will also be included.
1
David Demsey, “Chromatic Third Relations in the Music of John Coltrane,” Annual Review of Jazz
Studies 5 (1991): 154-5.
viii
Melodic vocabulary of the second section will be referred to as interval cycles. In
his book entitled Twentieth-Century Music, Elliott Antokoletz defines such patterns that
are constructed by the progression of a single recurrent interval as “interval cycles.”2
Interval cycles and their function in the music of composers of the late nineteenth and
twentieth centuries can be found in the scholarly writings of Antokoletz, George Perle,
Gary S. Karpinski, Richard Cohn, and Edward Lundergan.3
This study is intentionally limited to those portions of Coltrane’s improvisations that
are organized using cyclic construction. It is not meant to be an analysis of the entire
improvisation nor is it meant to document the interaction between musicians of the
ensemble during the improvisation.
2
Elliott Antokoletz, Twentieth-Century Music (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1992), 19.
3
Elliott Antokoletz, A Study of Tonality and Progression in Twentieth-Century Music (Berkeley: University
of California Press 1984); Elliott Antokoletz, “Interval Cycles in Stravinsky’s Early Ballets” Journal of the
American Musicological Society 39 (Fall 1986): 578-614; George Perle, “Berg’s Master Array of the Interval
Cycles,” The Musical Quarterly 63, no 1 (January 1977): 1-30; George Perle, The Listening Composer
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990); Gary S. Karpinski, “Structural Functions of the Interval
Cycles in Early 20th-Century Music,” International Journal of Musicology 4 (1995):183-206; Richard Cohn,
“Maximally Smooth Cycles, Hexatonic Systems, and the Analysis of Late-Romantic Triadic Progressions”
Music Analysis 15:1 (1996): 9-40; Edward Lundergan, “Musical Metaphor: Cyclic-Interval Structures in
Britten’s ‘War Requiem’” Choral Journal 38 no 7 (February 1998): 9-15, 17-20.
ix
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND METHODOLOGY
Literature Review. In the article Chromatic Third Relations in the Music of John
Coltrane, David Demsey discusses the late nineteenth-century practice of root
movement by major or minor thirds in chord progressions that freed composers
of the typical root movement by fourths or fifths. He defines a chromatic third
relation as a progression that moves by major or minor thirds, which would divide
the octave into equal parts.7 Demsey demonstrates that John Coltrane
frequently employed chromatic third relations in his original compositions and
arrangements as elaboration of ii – V – I harmony. For instance, in the
progression d minor – G7 – C major, Coltrane would substitute a series of V7 – I
cadences descending by major thirds between the d minor and G7 chord. The
resulting progression, d minor – Eb7 - Ab major – B7 –E major – G7 – C major,
would be what Demsey describes as a “tonic prolongation.”8 Jazz musicians
typically refer to this chord progression as “Coltrane Changes”. Demsey aptly
illustrates the differences between compositions that contain chord substitutions
used as tonic prolongations, such as “Countdown”, from the composition “Giant
Steps” in which the function of the progression is to form a complete major thirds
7
Ibid., 147-50. Demsey’s use of the label “Chromatic Third Relations” (sometimes
referred to in music theory as a “Chromatic Mediant Relationship”) is applied differently in this
context.
8
Ibid., 161. The term “tonic prolongation” is used in a different context than others have
used it (i.e., Schenker).
1
cycle.9 The chord structure of this piece, cited as Example 1, is composed
entirely of three key centers (B major, G major, and Eb major) a major third apart
arranged so that the entire composition is a complete cycle. The cyclic
construction of “Giant Steps” is so complete that it is difficult to determine which
of the three key centers is the principal key of the work.10 In this progression the
major thirds cycles no longer function as substitutions that prolong the tonic, but
rather chordal sequences that continuously perpetuate themselves. Indeed, as
Demsey points out, Coltrane referred to them as “sequences.”11 As this study
will illustrate, he ceased to incorporate them into the harmonic structure of his
compositions, but they remained a part of his improvisational melodic vocabulary
until the very end of his life.
Example 1: John Coltrane, chord progression of Giant Steps, transcribed by
Andrew White
Reprinted by permission of Andrew White, Andrew’s Musical Enterprises, Inc.
9
Ibid., 169. Major thirds cycles have been used by composers previous to this
application, but in a different way than John Coltrane used them (i.e., Liszt).
10
Ibid., 169.
11
Ibid.
2
In his definitive biography John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis
Porter provides an early example of the melodic application of major thirds cycles
by way of David Demsey:
Many musicians believe that Coltrane’s free playing was
derived from playing "Giant Steps" patterns over the modal
pieces. An early example was "Fifth House." But in that case he
actually had a specific chord sequence in his mind while the
band played a pedal point. Can one really find the "Giant Steps"
technique in his playing over strictly modal pieces like
"Impressions"? David Demsey believes so and provided me the
following analysis of Coltrane's live 1961 recording of the piece,
the title track of his Impulse album.12
Demsey has found numerous places in Coltrane's solo on "Impressions" where
there is implication of chromatic thirds related harmony. 13 Many of these are
minor third relations. However, there is one particular example illustrated by
Porter from Demsey's examples that clearly indicate movement by major thirds.
It is a phrase of approximately three measures that implies the same brief
dominant - tonic cadences descending tonally by major thirds that can be found
in "Giant Steps". The melodic pattern implies the harmonic progression: A7 - D
major -F7 - Bb major - Db7 - Gb major.14 Porter refers to other occurrences of
third related patterns in his own analysis of Coltrane's solo on "Venus" (1967)
and in the research of German scholar Gerhard Putschogl, who finds "fleeting
12
Lewis Porter, John Coltrane: His Life and Music (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Press, 1998), 223.
13
Ibid., 223-4. Minor third cycles are commonly identified in music theory as the octatonic
14
Ibid., 225
scale.
3
traces of thirds patterns as late as the recording of 'Brasilia' in May 1965…"15
Walt Weiskopf has discovered an implied major thirds cycle in Coltrane’s
unaccompanied solo break on the composition “Summertime”, recorded in
October of 1960. The implied harmonic progression, as outlined by Weiskopf is
E minor – G7 – C major – Eb7 – Ab major – B7 – E minor. The cycle as it occurs
in this example includes a minor key (E) along with the major key centers of C
and Ab.16 Keeping in mind that the above examples are beyond the recording
date that produced "Giant Steps" and "Countdown" in the early spring of 1959,
another example cited by Porter is interesting for the fact that it was recorded
over a month before this pivotal date. In the February 1959 recording of
"Limehouse Blues", Porter illustrates (upon the recommendation of Carl
Woideck) an example of an implied major thirds cycle over four measures of a
single dominant chord. The melodic pattern in this example implies the harmonic
progression of key centers a major third apart (C minor - Db7 - Gb major - A7 - D
major - F7).17
There is much speculation in scholarly writing as to the origin of “Giant
Steps” and the major thirds cycle that forms the basis of its harmonic
progression. Lewis Porter speculates as to possible sources. These include
pieces already established in the jazz repertoire, such as Dizzy Gillespie’s “Con
15
Ibid., 226.
16
Walt Weiskopf and Ramon Ricker, Coltrane, A Players Guide To His Harmony (New
Albany, Indiana: Jamey Aebersold, 1991), 23.
17
Porter, 151.
4
Alma” and Richard Rodgers’ “Have You Met Miss Jones?”18 This latter example
actually has a partial major thirds cycle on the bridge that is very similar to the
last eight measures of “Giant Steps” (with the exception that these major thirds
progressions ascend, as seen in Example 1, whereas the progressions descend
in “Have You Met Miss Jones?”). David Demsey also makes the connection
between the bridge of “Have You Met Miss Jones?” and the harmonic
progressions employed by Coltrane. Additionally, he offers a letter from a former
theory teacher of John Coltrane, Dennis Sandole, who claims that he worked
with Coltrane on third relationships.19 The most striking possibility offered by
Demsey is the connection between Nicolas Slonimsky and John Coltrane.
The Slonimsky Thesaurus contains material which is virtually
identical to portions of “Countdown” and “Giant Steps,” and
Slonimksy may be the most direct link between John Coltrane
and structural principles of the late nineteenth century…It is truly
remarkable that a musicologist born nearly a century ago in
Russia might have had such an effect on this jazz saxophonist.20
Slonimsky uses Latin and Greek terminology to name the principal intervals used
to construct the cyclic patterns contained in the Thesaurus. He claims that this
terminology will avoid confusion with tonality.21 Slonimsky has coined the term
sesqui to mean the addition of one half of a tone. Therefore, sesquitone would
be one half of a tone added to a tone, equal to a minor third. A quadritone would
18
Ibid., 145-6.
19
Demsey, 153-4.
20
Ibid., 154-5.
21
Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns (New York: Schirmer
Books, 1947), i.
5
be four whole steps, or a minor sixth. Therefore, a sesquiquadritone would be
that interval with the addition of one half step, or a major sixth. Following this
same logic, a quinquetone would be five whole steps, or a minor seventh.
Adding one half step to the quinquetone would produce the sesquiquinquetone,
or major seventh. The ditone is two whole steps or a major third. Slonimsky
calls perfect fourth a diatessaron and the perfect fifth a diapente. In order to
construct patterns and scales, Slonimsky adds tones to the progression of
principal intervals. The added tone(s) are labeled according to where they are
placed in relation to the principal intervals. “Interpolation” is the process by which
a tone(s) is placed between the notes of the principal interval. The process of
“Infrapolation” places a tone(s) below the principal interval and the process of
“Ultrapolation” places a tone(s) above the principal interval. Interpolation,
Infrapolation, and Ultrapolation may be freely combined to describe any
combination of the above processes. Slonimsky includes a diagram in the
introduction to the Thesaurus, listed as Example 2, that illustrates these
processes.
6
Example 2: Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, table
from the Introduction
Reprinted by permission of Schirmer Trade Books, a division of Music Sales Corporation.
The first example that Demsey lists as an influence on the compostion of
John Coltrane’s "Giant Steps" is pattern #286 in the Thesaurus of Scales and
Melodic Patterns cited as Example 3.22 It is a cyclic interval pattern that employs
the major third as the principal interval and includes a note located below and
one located in between each of the repetitions of that interval. Slonimsky labels
this particular pattern as a ditone progression with an infra-interpolation. For the
purposes of illustration, the principal intervals have been illustrated using
horizontal brackets, while the notes that have been added to form the infrainterpolation have been circled in Example 3. As it happens, this is exactly the
sequence of pitches (transposed up a perfect fifth) that Coltrane uses in the
second half of the melody to “Giant Steps”.23
22
Ibid., 157.
23
Demsey, 157.
7
Example 3: Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, #286
The second example from the Thesaurus that David Demsey links to
“Giant Steps” (with the help of Robert Wason) is a twelve-tone construction
(semitone progression) listed as pattern #646. Slonimsky uses this pattern in the
Introduction as an example of applying dominant – tonic harmony to a twelvetone pattern to impart a sense of tonality. Suprisingly, the harmonies Slonimsky
chose for his example are dominant - tonic cadences forming a major thirds
cycle, exactly like the type used by Coltrane in “Giant Steps”.24
Demsey also acknowledges the theory that Coltrane’s thirds cycles carry a
religious significance, correlating the three equal key areas to the holy trinity. He
does not doubt that this relationship exists, but considers the connections to the
Thesaurus more significant.25 Porter places more significance of the religious
origin of the major thirds cycles.
As for the particular form that Coltrane’s piece takes--the use of
major thirds dividing the octave into three parts, the use of three
tonal centers--I wouldn’t underestimate Coltrane’s interest in
24
Ibid. The Thesaurus was published in 1947, but included concepts used by composers
dating to the previous century.
25
Ibid., 145.
8
religion and mysticism. He had a kind of ecumenical, openminded interest in all traditions. During the late 1950’s he would
draw the circle of fifths and then connect the twelve key centers
with lines…Sometimes he’d place an equilateral triangle within
the circle, creating a “magic triangle,” and Marcello Piras has
shown that, the points of the triangle connect key centers a
major third apart. Surely Coltrane was interested in mystical as
well as aural implications of third relations.26
John Coltrane never discussed the religious significance and symbolism of his
major thirds cycles that Lewis Porter outlines in his biography and David Demsey
mentions in the discourse of his theoretical analysis. The closest Coltrane came
to the topic was when he called music a “reflection of the universe.” 27 Jazz
pianist and commentator Dr. Billy Taylor agrees that John Coltrane was a very
spiritual individual but did not view that as the principal motivation behind his
experiments with thirds cycles. He thought Coltrane pursued the cycle technique
purely as a musical endeavor.28
In addition to the expert analysis and insight in his article, David Demsey
also includes extremely helpful information in his appendices. Demsey includes
three appendices entitled “Selected Popular Songs Containing Chromatic Third
Relations”, “Other Books by Nicolas Slonimsky” and “Coltrane Compositions
Containing Chromatic Third Relations.”
There is one other original composition that has intrigued scholars
because of its cyclical properties. It is a piece recorded in 1965 by John Coltrane
26
Porter, 150.
27
Carl Woideck, The John Coltrane Companion: Five Decades of Commentary (New
York: Schirmer Books, 1998), 114.
28
Dr. Billy Taylor, interview by author, Greenville, North Carolina, April 25, 2003.
9
entitled "One Down, One Up.” Walt Weiskopf analyzes this composition in his
book Intervalic Improvisation. As Weiskopf explains, the piece consists of an "A"
section played entirely over a Bb7(#5) chord and a "B" section that modulates
down a step to an Ab7(#5) chord. The melody consists of two augmented triads
one half step apart that Coltrane draws heavily upon for material in his solo. As
Weiskopf points out, the derivation of these two triads combined is an inverted
augmented scale.29 This is a scale that is formed by consecutively alternating
the intervals of a half step and a minor third. The augmented scale is a
construction that consecutively alternates the intervals of a minor third and a half
step. In his article "We are Revealing a Hand That Will Later Reveal Us: Notes
on Form and Harmony in Coltrane's Work,” John Schott also makes note of the
cyclical nature of the triads in "One Down, One Up" by identifying them with
identical patterns found in the Thesaurus: "Like Giant Steps, the inspiration for
this piece may have been Slonimsky's Thesaurus.” 30 Schott identifies five
patterns from the Thesaurus that share a similar construction with the melody of
Coltrane’s “One Down, One Up.” Jazz historian Carl Woideck provides a
possible explanation for the derivation of these types of cyclical patterns in
Coltrane’s vocabulary when he writes that: "Even after Coltrane largely
abandoned functional harmony in his work, he satisfied his need of organization
29
Walt Weiskopf, Intervalic Improvisation (New Albany, Indiana: Jamey Aebersold Jazz
Inc., 1995), 16.
30
John Schott, “We Are Revealing a Hand That Will Later Reveal Us: Notes on Form and
Harmony in Coltrane’s Work” Arcana: Musicians on Music, ed. John Zorn (New York, NY: Hips
Road and Granary Books, 2000), 349.
10
by deriving many of his improvisational ideas from intervallic patterns and
synthetic scales."31 Even in his day, Coltrane was generally acknowledged to be
doing something out of the ordinary. Coltrane's contemporary, alto saxophonist
Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, told Barbara Gardner in 1962, "...He is a definite
departure. I don't mean that he was a radical departure from the tenor played by,
say, Coleman Hawkins, because there were some radical departures before him.
But there was a generally accepted, established style of play that was a mixture
of Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Lester Young, and some of Coleman Hawkins'
style. And John decided, all of a sudden, that wasn't good enough for him."32
John Coltrane himself confirmed this when he told Nat Hentoff, "...I'm still
primarily looking into certain sounds, certain scales. Not that I'm sure what I'm
looking for, except that it'll be something that hasn't been played before."33
Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns is an
exhaustive work. In addition to the approximately seven hundred cyclic patterns
constructed on the intervals that divide one octave equally, there are almost as
many cyclic patterns for intervals that divide multiple octaves into equal parts.
For instance, the quadritone (minor sixth) progression divides two octaves into
three equal parts; the sequiquadritone (major sixth) progression divides three
octaves into four equal parts; the quinquetone (minor seventh) progression
divides five octaves into six equal parts; the diatessaron (perfect fourth)
31
Ibid., 173.
32
Ibid., 20.
33
Ibid., 53.
11
progression divides five octaves into twelve equal parts; the septitone (major
ninth) progression divides seven octaves into six equal parts; the diapente
(perfect fifth) progression divides seven octaves into twelve equal parts and the
sesquiquinquetone (major seventh) progression divides eleven octaves into
twelve parts. There are also heptatonic scales and arpeggios, pentatonic scales,
twelve-tone patterns, polytonal and polyrhythmic scales, bitonal arpeggios,
palindromic canons and pandiatonic progressions. Slonimsky includes sections
that show previously listed patterns in permutation and multinote configurations.
At the end a synopsis of chords is added. In an article written for the journal
Keyboard Classics and Piano Stylist, Slonimsky discusses the circumstances
around the writing and publication of the Thesaurus:
Back in 1948, it was almost impossible to find a publisher for the
Thesaurus; my regular publisher was not at all receptive. I finally
met an old German who was interested, and we found an
engraver…the engraver charged me only $250, which is
ridiculous for working all summer long. When we finally
published it, everybody told me that I was wasting my time. I did
get a letter from Arnold Schoenberg commending me for
including all those 12 - tone scales, but my publisher regarded
his letter as negative and refused to use it…It was published in
the summertime. Before long, I received a note from my
publisher: "We made it for August: one copy sold." Years later,
something happened. I went into the Schirmer music store in
New York, and there were a lot of copies of the Thesaurus, and I
asked, "What are you doing with those?" "Selling them," was the
reply. "Who is buying them?" "Jazz musicians." It turned out
that John Coltrane was practicing out of the Thesaurus, and all
the jazz musicians wanted their own copies. Now it is a best
seller!34
34
Slonimsky, 37.
12
John Coltrane's total preoccupation with the Thesaurus can be gauged by
an interview that David Demsey held in 1989 with Coltrane's pianist, McCoy
Tyner. Tyner told Demsey that "Coltrane would leave for a road trip with the
Quartet carrying nothing but his horn case and the Slonimsky book."35 Coltrane
was also keenly interested in the works of other classical composers. Lewis
Porter provides some evidence, by way of an interview with saxophonist Jimmy
Heath, that Coltrane was interested in composers such as Stravinsky and
Shostakovich.36 In his biography of John Coltrane entitled Chasin’ the Trane,
J.C. Thomas includes a quote by saxophonist Nick Nicholas: “I remember John
and I playing Bartok. I had some albums, especially the Concerto for Orchestra,
and we played along with the music, sometimes playing the exact lines and other
times improvising over them. He was especially interested in the violin parts of
the first and third movements.”37 Porter adds further information from pianist
James Forman that while he was on the road with him, Coltrane would ask to
borrow his copies of the Hanon and Czerny piano exercise books to practice out
of, to the surprise of his fellow musicians.38
Porter eloquently describes the effect that John Coltrane's insatiable
35
Demsey, 176.
36
Porter, 63.
37
J.C. Thomas, Chasin’ The Trane: The Music and Mystique of John Coltrane (New
York: Da Capo Press, 1975), 105.
38
Porter, 81.
13
appetite for these kinds of sources had on his musical style:
What's unusual about Coltrane is that he seems to have built his
style out of many of these resources, instead of leaving them at
home strictly for practice and technique development. It would
be as if pianists who studied Hanon's sequential exercises in
their youth went on to invent or write music based on Hanon.
That generally doesn't happen. Yet in Coltrane's case it did-quite literally. 39
John Coltrane appeared to find nothing unusual about his inclusion of
various influences from many different sources into his music. Coltrane rarely
referred to the music he played as “Jazz”. In fact, it appears that he had an
overall distaste for labels of any kind as they were applied to different styles of
music. In an interview with Frank Kofsky in the summer of 1966 (which was
published in 1970), Coltrane responded to a question about a phrase describing
the "new" style in jazz. He answered: "Phrases, I don't know. They don't mean
much to me, because usually I don't make the phrases, so I don't react too much.
It makes no difference to me one way or the other what it's called."40 At another
point, Kofsky asked if there was a relationship of jazz to human conditions and
events. Coltrane responded (in one of the few instances where he actually used
the term "jazz"): "In my opinion I would say yes, because jazz--if you want to call
it that; we'll talk about that later--is an expression of music…"41 At still another
spot in the same interview Coltrane was asked why he thought Third Stream
39
Ibid., 216.
40
Woideck, The John Coltrane Companion: Five Decades of Commentary, 133.
41
Ibid., 136
14
Music didn't catch on with musicians. He replied: "I think it was an attempt to
create something, I think, more with labels, you see than true evolution."
After studying Coltrane's responses, it seems that he considered differing
styles of music to be all-inclusive. In this sense, there would be absolutely
nothing unusual about employing a melodic phrase or pattern from a book, such
as the Thesaurus, no matter what style of music it was derived from. Perhaps
Coltrane himself summed up this attitude of diligence, openness, and unabashed
experimentation best when in an interview for Down Beat magazine in
September of 1960 he said:
I've been devoting quite a bit of my time to harmonic
studies on my own, in libraries and places like that. I've found
you've got to look back at the old things and see them in a new
light. I'm not finished with these studies because I haven't
assimilated everything into my playing. I want to progress, but I
don't want to go so far out that I can't see what others are doing.
I want to broaden my outlook in order to come out with a fuller
means of expression. I want to be more flexible where rhythm is
concerned. I feel I have to study rhythm some more. I haven't
experimented too much with time; most of my experimenting has
been in a harmonic form. I put time and rhythms to one side in
the past. But I've got to keep experimenting. I feel that I'm just
beginning. I have part of what I'm looking for in my grasp but not
all. I'm very happy devoting all my time to music, and I'm glad to
be one of the many who are striving for fuller development as
musicians. Considering the great heritage in music that we
have, the work of giants of the past, the present, and the promise
of those who are to come, I feel that we have every reason to
face the future optimistically. 42
Saxophonist Andrew White has published over six hundred transcriptions
of recorded improvised solos by John Coltrane, including all of the examples
42
Ibid., 102-3.
15
used in this study. This monumental achievement has no doubt given him a
unique perspective from which to document Coltrane's developing musical style.
White divides the body of John Coltrane's work into four periods of creative
activity. 43 The first period begins in 1955 when Coltrane first recorded with the
Miles Davis group, and continues through mid- 1957. The second period begins
in mid-1957, the period in which Coltrane began working with Thelonius Monk,
and continues through the end of 1959. White marks the third period as
beginning in 1960 and continuing to the end of 1964. Coincidentally, the fourth
and final period designated by Andrew White coincides exactly with the examples
cited in this study, from the beginning of 1965 until his death in the summer of
1967. White makes an observation that is apparent in the musical examples of
this document when he states, "Around the beginning of 1965, the music started
to take on more abstract tones. Elements of impressionism such as implied
dissonance came more into prominence, but the repertoire basically remained
the same."44 Indeed, the cyclic patterns diagramed in this study starting with the
February recording sessions of 1965 are abstract in their construction and
application. With the single exception of the pattern used in the melody and
improvisation of the composition "One Down, One Up", these cyclic patterns
seem to have been applied broadly throughout most of the compositions
Coltrane recorded from 1965 until the end of his life. The use of these cyclic
patterns as melodic vocabulary is dispersed so evenly in the improvisations of
43
Andrew Nathaniel White III, Trane ‘n Me (A semi-autobiography): A Treatise on The
Music of John Coltrane (Washington, DC: Andrew’s Musical Enterprises, Inc, 1981), 42.
44
Ibid., 51.
16
this time period that it is impossible to determine a context for their inclusion in
any one composition other than the example of "One Down, One Up" just
mentioned. Even the cyclic patterns of implied key centers a major third apart,
originally derived from the chord progressions of compositions such as
“Countdown”, “26-2”, and “Giant Steps,” take on a context of their own in the form
of melodic vocabulary. They eventually appear as a regular part of Coltrane's
improvisations all the way up to his final recordings. The cyclic patterns derived
from principal interval progressions can be found sporadically in Coltrane
improvisations earlier than 1965, but this date marks the beginning of their
widespread application.
In discussing the direction that John Coltrane's musical style would take in
the fourth period, Andrew White makes the following observation: "Coltrane
never encountered a radical departure especially in the later periods because the
rules and influence of the be-bop period he went through were too strong to allow
a radical departure".45 Coltrane's musical style was rooted in deriving melodies
from the set structure of a predetermined chord progression. This is what
Andrew White is referring to when he states that Coltrane's background and
influences wouldn't allow a radical departure. With the dissolution of chord
structure in his late period compositions, the need for a unifying or organizational
element in his improvisations would be a critical component for John Coltrane.
Organizing at least parts of his improvisations around a principal interval
progression would satisfy that need. Coltrane likely looked upon Nicolas
45
Ibid., 52.
17
Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns as a trove of material
relevant to a structural principle upon which he could develop and organize a
melodic vocabulary for inclusion into improvisation. On the surface this material
from Coltrane's late period may appear random and haphazard. However, a
detailed analysis of the melodic vocabulary relating to interval cycles reveals a
structure of the highest order and detail. This sense of order and detail is a
continuation of the high musical achievement attained by John Coltrane in his
earlier periods.
The music of Coltrane's late period has not gained the popularity among
his followers as the music of his previous periods. Writer Francis Davis recounts
hearing a concert by John Coltrane in the fall of 1966, in which people began
walking out fifteen minutes into the performance. Davis recounts that the people
leaving were not uninformed listeners, but hardened "Coltrane addicts.”46 Davis
goes on to remark that this attitude of indifference or even outright hostility
towards the music of Coltrane's late period is still present: "On any visit to Tower
or J & R, you're likely to find upwards of a dozen unauthorized Coltrane concert
recordings, but none from later than 1965, the cut-off point even for many of
those who pay him lip-service as the ultimate musical seeker."47 However,
analytical study of the post-1965 improvisations by John Coltrane bears out the
fact that the high musical standards never ebbed. His careful attention to form
and structure persisted even down to the very finest detail. It runs contrary to
46
Woideck, The John Coltrane Companion: Five Decades of Commentary, 76.
47
Ibid., 77.
18
logic that this would not be the case. On this particular subject, Andrew White
states that Coltrane's "...solos show the work of an organized craftsman who
hand-picked each phrase for optimal effect in the shape of each solo. Evidence
of vast resources of predisposition in the sequence of events stated in each solo.
Evidence of a hand-picked thematic language. Not a language that was
haphazard, frivilous (sic) or spontaneous."48
An excellent example of what Andrew White refers to as “hand-picked
thematic language” as applied in the improvisations of John Coltrane is the
implied major thirds cycles. What started for Coltrane as an experiment in
harmonic chord structure became a permanent part of his melodic vocabulary.
The strong implication of V7 – I cadences in key centers a major third apart can
be identified in Coltrane improvisations using a Roman numeral analysis in the
compositions of 1965 to 1967. Tracing the derivation of this particular vocabulary
leads to a better insight into the musical thought and developmental process as
undertaken by an artist of the caliber of John Coltrane. It also provides the
student of jazz improvisation examples of this particular cyclic vocabulary for
study and assimilation.
Methodology. Part of this document will be devoted to the influence of
Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Ornette Coleman on the development and
direction of John Coltrane’s musical style with special emphasis placed on the
evolution of major thirds cycles as melodic vocabulary. Excerpts from numerous
magazine interviews with Coltrane compiled by Carl Woideck in his book The
48
White, 38.
19
Coltrane Companion: Five Decades of Commentary will be frequently utilized.
Other articles useful to this topic come from writers and critics contemporary to
that time period and the present. Woideck includes these commentaries in his
book as well. Lewis Porter’s definitive biography John Coltrane: His Life and
Music includes first-hand information relevant to Coltrane’s musical influences
and relevant historical information, as does Mark C. Gridley’s Jazz Styles: History
and Analysis.
Melodic vocabulary analyzed in this study will include the patterns derived
from John Coltrane’s descending major thirds cycles used in the harmonic
progressions of compositions such as “Countdown” and “Giant Steps”. These
musical examples are selected passages from Coltrane’s improvisations over
compositions from 1965 to 1967 that contain a harmonically static
accompaniment. The analysis provided in the examples outlines the chord
progressions implied by the melodic line. Tonal designations typically used in
jazz chord progressions have been provided, wherever possible, above the
staves in each of the musical examples. A corresponding Roman numeral
analysis is provided beneath the staves of each example. In this analysis, a
dominant seventh chord will be designated as “V7”. The extensions of this
particular chord could include the 9th, 11th, or 13th. Alterations of the dominant
seventh chord occur by raising the 9th, 11th, or 5th one half-step (which would
appear as #9, #11, and #5, respectively) or lowering the 9th, 13th, or 5th one halfstep (which would appear as b9, b13 and b5, respectively). Pitches that are not
diatonic to the implied chord progressions, such as dominant seventh chord
20
alterations and passing tones, have been circled in the examples. Relevant
musical analysis by David Demsey, Carl Woideck, John Schott, Lewis Porter,
and Walt Weiskopf is included.
There are other patterns based on interval cycles in John Coltrane's
melodic vocabulary of 1965 to 1967 similar to the example in the melody of “One
Down, One Up” that would be difficult to classify without the terminology and
context provided by Nicolas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic
Patterns. These cyclic interval patterns were unlike typical jazz vocabulary used
by other artists in improvisation up to that time. There is a significant
resemblance of Coltrane’s patterns to the patterns contained in the Thesaurus.
For this reason, Slonimsky’s patterns are the perfect models for analysis of John
Coltrane’s melodic interval cycles. Jazz historian Carl Woideck acknowledges
this connection while citing a possible link between a melodic pattern belonging
to Charlie Parker and the Thesaurus. He goes on to mention the “…work of
saxophonist John Coltrane in the 1960’s, when he was deriving patterns for
sequencing from Nicolas Slonimsky’s Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns
(of course, Coltrane often superimposed his patterns over more harmonically
static accompaniment).”49 To facilitate the analysis of these particular patterns,
the system used to diagram Example 1 will be employed. In some instances,
vertical brackets will be used to isolate individual cycles and their extrapolations
in the excerpts. After a pattern from Coltrane’s melodic vocabulary has been
49
Woideck, Charlie Parker: His Music and Life (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan
Press, 1996), 188.
21
cited, the appropriate counterpart to that pattern in the Thesaurus will be
presented with an identical example number but a different alphabetical
designation.
22
CHAPTER 2: THELONIOUS MONK, MILES DAVIS AND ORNETTE
COLEMAN: CONVERGING INFLUENCES
In the mid 1950s, when John Coltrane began his rise to prominence, Miles
Davis, Thelonious Monk, and later Ornette Coleman, had an important influence
on the direction Coltrane's musical style would take. Coltrane credits each of
them in his interviews to such an extent this study would not be complete without
at least a brief documentation of each of these musicians' roles in the
development of his style. Additionally, and perhaps equally important to this
particular study, these musicians have been cited by jazz historians and scholars
as critical influences on the direction that Coltrane would choose to employ his
developing cyclic progressions and patterns.
Miles Davis initially brought John Coltrane to the attention of the world by
including him in the quintet that began recording for the Columbia record label in
October of 1955. This marked his first stint with the Miles Davis group that would
end in the spring of 1957, at which time he would join Thelonious Monk for one
recording on the Riverside label and an important series of engagements at the
Five Spot Café in New York. Writer Nat Hentoff comments on the significance of
this event when he offered the following:
Even more valuable to Coltrane, however, was his stay with
Thelonious Monk - in between stints with Miles Davis in the late
1950's. That collaboration at the Five Spot Café in New York's
East Village was a key historic event - of the musical order of
Louis Armstrong playing second cornet to King Oliver at the
Royal Garden Café in Chicago in the 1920's. I was there nearly
23
every night all the weeks Monk and Trane played the Five Spot,
and it was there I finally understood how nonpareil a musician,
how dauntless an explorer Coltrane was. The excitement was
so heady that soon musicians were standing two and three deep
at the bar of the Five Spot nearly every night.50
John Coltrane also participated in informal sessions with Monk at his
apartment that took place on a regular basis before their engagement at the Five
Spot. As he describes it for interviewer August Blume,51 they would sometimes
spend all day on just one tune. This habit obviously led to a great amount of
detailed work, as Coltrane tells Blume that he gained an appreciation from Monk
of the finer points in music.52 In the article he wrote for Down Beat in 1960,
Coltrane would say:
Working with Monk brought me close to a musical architect of
the highest order. I felt I learned from him in every way - through
the senses, theoretically, technically. I would talk to Monk about
musical problems, and he would sit at the piano and show me
the answers just by playing them. I could watch him play and
find out the things I wanted to know. Also, I could see a lot of
things that I didn't know about at all… I think Monk is one of the
true greats of all time. He's a real musical thinker - there's not
many like him. I feel myself fortunate to have had the
opportunity to work with him.53
Coltrane would also tell Nat Hentoff that Monk "got me into the habit of playing
long solos on his pieces, playing the same piece for a long time to find new
conceptions for solos. It got so I would go as far as possible on one phrase until
50
Woideck, The John Coltrane Companion, 50.
51
Ibid., 91.
52
Ibid., 95.
53
Ibid., 100-1.
24
I ran out of ideas. The harmonies got to be an obsession for me. Sometimes I
was making music through the wrong end of a magnifying glass."54
There can be no doubt that John Coltrane was a different musician after
the time spent with Thelonious Monk. Lewis Porter concludes, "Monk's
compositions challenged Coltrane's knowledge of harmonic progression…" and
notes an eyewitness account of Coltrane undergoing a transformation from
opening night at the Five Spot.55 Respected jazz critic Martin Williams wrote in
1967:
The post-Monk Coltrane, then, was a prodigious
saxophonist and a prodigious harmonicist. He was also a
prodigious jazzman in that he had extended the range of his
instrument, the textures of the sound he was able to evoke from
it, and the human quality of his saxophone voice. Coltrane could
superimpose a world of passing chords, substitute chords, and
harmonic extensions upon a harmonic structure that was already
complex. And at times he seemed prepared to gush out every
possible note, find his way step by step through every complex
chord, careen through every scale, and go beyond even that
profession by groping for impossible notes and sounds on a
tenor saxophone that seemed ready to shatter under the strain.
From one point of view, Coltrane had pushed jazz harmonies as
far as they could go. From another, such complex, sophisticated
knowledge builds its own trap, and Coltrane, still a vertical
thinker, was like a hamster trapped in a three-dimensional
harmonic maze of his own making.56
As circumstances would have it, Coltrane would rejoin Miles Davis in
1958. This was an important move for John Coltrane due to the innovations of
54
Ibid., 51.
55
Porter, 110.
56
Woideck, The John Coltrane Companion, 43-4.
25
musical style that Miles Davis and his groups historically contributed to jazz.
According to jazz historian Mark Gridley, Davis initiated many style changes in
jazz with innovations that had a remarkable and widespread effect on the jazz
landscape. He did this not only with his own contributions to musical style, but
also by employing and collaborating with musicians, arrangers, and composers
who represented the vanguard of almost every major style change during more
than five decades of jazz history.57
In 1958, Davis was again on the verge of another innovation with the
"modal" structure of composition that can first be heard in the piece "Milestones,"
on the Milestones recording of 1958.58 This relatively sparse compositional
technique ("Milestones" consisted of only two modes) was in stark contrast to
John Coltrane's practice of dense chord construction (such as the major thirds
cycles included in the compositions "Giant Steps" and "Countdown"). Bringing
John Coltrane back to his group right at this time was pivotal. The convergence
of these forces, dense chord substitution and the modal compositional structure,
brought about a change in style equal to all others in the history of jazz. In his
article “John Coltrane: A Life Supreme,” Peter Watrous recognized this when he
wrote:
Coltrane rejoined Miles at the end of the year; the group now
featured Bill Evans on piano, Cannonball Adderley on alto, and a
book which used modes as a way to simplify harmonic
movement. It was completely antithetical to what Coltrane was
57
Mark C. Gridley, Jazz Styles: History and Analysis, 7th ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2000), 235-40.
58
Ibid., 234.
26
working on at the time--the superimposition of chords, dense
harmonic webs--yet he fit in perfectly, using the harmonic spaces
to experiment with all the chord substitutions he was thinking
about. Miles places Coltrane's development: "I said, 'Trane, you
can play these chords against the tonic of another chord,' and he
was the only one who could do it. Lucky Thompson, maybe.
Plus when I did Milestones, with Bill Evans, I wrote out these
little things for Trane, these little things within a mode, to see
what he could do with them. It was always a challenge for him.
The chords I showed him were just like dominant chords against
dominant chords, a minor, diminished and half step...he could
play that in one chord and the trick is, not the trick, but to play
them so you can hear the sound of the chord you're playing
against. It's always a challenge if you're up in the air, because
you're tired of the suspended diminished chord after
everything...59
The Miles Davis group’s next recording using the modal technique, the
1959 recording Kind of Blue, so popularized this style that it virtually changed the
sound of jazz. Jazz musicians everywhere began employing the modal style.60
One month before John Coltrane recorded Kind of Blue with the Miles Davis
group, he recorded the album Giant Steps containing his two most popular thirds
cycle pieces “Countdown” and “Giant Steps.” In these compositions, Coltrane
had the rhythm section play his major thirds cycles right along with him in the
accompaniment. He soon came to realize that the modal accompaniment
provided the perfect structure for him to develop his cycles melodically. He
reflected on this in his 1960 article for Down Beat.
After leaving Monk, I went back to another great musical
artist, Miles. On returning, this time to stay until I formed my own
group a few months ago, I found Miles in the midst of another
stage of his musical development. There was one time in his
59
60
Gridley, 236-40.
27
past that he devoted to multi-chorded structures. He was
interested in chords for their own sake. But now it seemed that
he was moving in the opposite direction to the use of fewer and
fewer chord changes in songs. He used tunes with free-flowing
lines and chordal direction. This approach allowed the soloist
the choice of playing chordally (vertically) or melodically
(horizontally). In fact, due to the direct and free-flowing lines in
this music, I found it easy to apply the harmonic ideas that I had.
I could stack up chords - say, on a C7, I sometimes
superimposed an Eb7, up to an F#7, down to an F. That way I
could play three chords on one. But on the other hand, if I
wanted to, I could play melodically, Miles' music gave me plenty
of freedom. It's a beautiful approach.61
In April of 1960, John Coltrane would leave the Miles Davis Group to form
his own band. He would eventually realize that Miles' move away from
compositions with dense chordal structures was the best approach for his band
as well. In an interview with jazz dilettante Benoit Quersin, he was asked about
this new modal application.
Yeah, well, I've gone into that now. I've followed Miles'
lead in that I think. He was doing that, that kind of work, when I
was with him. And, at that time, I was working on the chords, but
he was in the modal thing then. So, since I've had my own
group, it has become necessary to use the modal concept
because, it does free the rhythm section in it. They don't have to
keep their strict chordal structure. And the soloist can play any
structure he wants to. But the rhythm section is basically
unhindered or uncluttered. So, most of the things we're doing
now are in modes for parts, in sections, then there are sections
when there are no harmonies at all, underlying, that is.62
Lewis Porter documents the change in Coltrane's approach that would eventually
force him to realize that Miles’ move away from compositions with dense chordal
61
62
Ibid., 121.
28
structures was best for his band as well.63 Porter includes information from
Coltrane’s former drummer, Pete LaRoca, and an interview with Michel de Ruyter
in 1961 that substantiates this claim.
Pete LaRoca, who played drums with Coltrane in 1960,
remembers discussing the repertory with Coltrane outside
Small's in Harlem: "We were sitting in his car, and I was saying
to him I thought the band got a better groove on the things that
were modal...We got a heavy groove on 'Equinox', things were
relaxed, whereas we were kind of hustling and chasing ourselves
on that stuff from Giant Steps, where it had all those chords."
Coltrane began to see that it was possible for him to have his
cake and eat it too - he could play through his harmonic ideas on
the saxophone, creating some of those "prettier" lines he strove
for, while the rhythm section supported him with more open,
modal backgrounds. He said in 1961: "Now I prefer the rhythm
to be free. I had to get it beat into my skull [laughs], but I accept
this principle now. At first I wasn't sure, because I was delving
into sequences, and I felt that I should have the rhythm play the
sequences right along with me, and we all go down this winding
road. But after several tries and failures...at this, it seemed
better to have them free to go - as free as possible. And then
you superimpose whatever sequences you want over them."64
John Coltrane again referred specifically to the problem of the rhythm
section duplicating the major thirds cycles in the accompaniment to "Giant Steps"
in the following interview in 1962, but also mentions the influence of saxophonist
Ornette Coleman, one of the leader's of the Free Jazz movement.
At the time I left Miles I was trying to add a lot of sequences
to my solo work, putting chords to the things I was playing, and
using things I could play a little more music on. It was before I
formed my own group that I had the rhythm section playing these
sequences forward, and I made "Giant Steps" with some other
guys and carried the idea on into my band. But it was hard to
make some things swing with the rhythm section playing these
chords, and Miles advised me to abandon the idea of the rhythm
63
64
Porter, 165-6.
Porter, 166.
29
section playing these sequences, and to do it only myself. But
around this time I heard Ornette who had abandoned chords
completely and that helped me to think clearly about what I
wanted to do.65
Around the same time that Miles Davis recorded Kind of Blue and John
Coltrane recorded Giant Steps, saxophonist Ornette Coleman recorded the
album Free Jazz (1960). This album truly was "free" in the sense that the
improvisations were not based on a set chord progression.66 That John Coltrane
would have been interested at this time in this approach to improvisation is not
surprising. If the modal approach taken by Davis was liberating to him, then the
absence of a chord structure would be even more so. In the interview with Benoit
Quersin, Coltrane acknowledges his debt to Coleman:
Yeah, well, I feel indebted to him, myself. Because,
actually, when he came along, I was so far in this thing [it's
logical to assume he meant the thirds cycles], I didn't know
where I was going to go next. And, I didn't know if I would have
thought about just abandoning the chord system or not. I
probably wouldn't have thought of that at all. And he came along
doing it, and I heard it, I said, "Well, that - that must be the
answer." And I'm of the opinion that it is now. That's the way I
feel now. The way we do, we play, we do - right, since I have a
piano, I still have to consider it, and that accounts for the modes
that we play, but after all, you can't - we only -we only got a few,
and after a while, that's going to get a little monotonous to do it
on every song, so it might - there probably will be some things in
the future that we're going to play, just as Ornette does, with no
accompaniment from the piano at all. Except on maybe the
melody, but as far as the solo, no accompaniment.67
65
66
67
Gridley, 285.
30
The inclusion of a piano in the group would imply particular chords; therefore
Coleman did not use one. Notice in the interview that Coltrane indicates that
even the modal accompaniment may not go far enough to satisfy his
improvisational approach. Coltrane was impressed enough with Coleman's
"free" structure of composition that he even recorded several Coleman
compositions in the summer of 1960 with three members of Ornette Coleman's
group; Don Cherry on trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass and Ed Blackwell on
drums on an album entitled The Avant-Garde.68 Coltrane also thought enough of
Ornette Coleman's techniques to study them from Coleman himself. In his
survey “John Coltrane: A Life Supreme,” Peter Watrous includes several
commentaries from musicians who knew Coltrane. One of them was Ornette
Coleman, who had this to say:
In the early 60's he was studying with me. He was interested
in non - chordal playing, and I had cut my teeth on that stuff. He
later sent me a letter which included thirty dollars for each
lesson, and thanked me. [That influence] showed up very clearly
because all of a sudden a guy who had been playing very
'legitimately' started playing strictly from his own spiritual and
emotional state without worrying about his past. Had he lived,
Trane would probably have legitimized that concept. I thought
he had a beautiful tone. I thought it was very humane.69
The convergence of these three important influential musicians,
Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Ornette Coleman affected the direction of
Coltrane's developing cycles, especially the major thirds sequences found in
compositions such as "Giant Steps" and “Countdown”. The intensive harmonic
68
Gridley, 265.
69
31
study with Monk no doubt provided fluency and development in the application of
the cycles. Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman provided ideas on the structural
accompaniment that essentially made the major thirds cycle, such as the one
that constitutes the chord progressions of "Giant Steps", part of the melodic
vocabulary in Coltrane's improvisations. As a result of these suggestions, John
Coltrane was now free to play these "sequences" as melodic ideas over a
harmonically static accompaniment. This was a very different application of
these cycles from their initial conception as chord structure. Coltrane hinted at
this in the interviews when he mentioned that "Giant Steps" was an experiment.
In 1961, when Benoit Quersin suggested the idea that "Giant Steps" was the
"first step", Coltrane responded:
Well, that album represented a few things that I'd been
thinking of for about five or six months before it was made. The
things that I was - the harmonic structures that I was working on
there, I hadn't fully developed them and I didn't understand them.
Actually, "Giant Steps" was, in quite a few respects, I don't know,
an experiment. And the things - some things I could have used in
there - in "Giant Steps" that I made a whole song out of, I could
have probably taken - taken them and applied to something else,
and they might have taken up a few bars and that have been it.
But at that time, I was obsessed with the thing and it was all I had
in my mind, because it was my first step into playing some
extended chord structures, as I was trying to do, and that was
those songs that were on there. Some of them had these
particular structures in them. That was the first one - record that I
made with them in there. And since then, I've done it, but it hasn't
been so obvious because I've learned to use it as a part of
something and not as a whole.70
70
32
In this last sentence of his statement, Coltrane may have been referring to
compositions like "But Not for Me" (the arrangement of the George Gershwin
tune that Coltrane recorded in 1960), which used the major thirds cycle over a
portion of the form.71 However, as Coltrane indicated in the interview with Michel
de Ruyter, he was already tiring of the rhythm section playing the thirds cycles
along with him. It is quite possible that Coltrane was referring to passages of
implied thirds cycles such as the one discovered by David Demsey on the modal
composition "Impressions" (outlined in Chapter 1). The exact date of the 1961
Quersin interview is unknown. However, the Michel de Ruyter interview was
November 11th, 1961 approximately a week after the recording of "Impressions".
In addition to the examples of implied major thirds cycles cited in Chapter
1, which include the compositions "Impressions", “Summertime” and “Limehouse
Blues”, the next chapter will include eighteen examples of major thirds cycles
from Coltrane’s improvisations which were performed over static harmony. The
strong implication of the dominant - tonic harmony used in "Countdown" and
"Giant Steps" is apparent in most of these examples and it is most likely the end
result of the "experiment" that John Coltrane called "Giant Steps". The recording
dates of these excerpts cover an approximate two-year period of time from
February 18th, 1965 to February 22nd, 1967.
71
Demsey, 164.
33
CHAPTER 3: ANALYSIS: COLTRANE'S MAJOR THIRDS HARMONIC
CYCLES USED AS MELODIC VOCABULARY
The Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns contains over two hundred
patterns based on the ditone progression (major third). Given the connection
made by David Demsey of the ditone progression pattern #286 to John
Coltrane's composition "Giant Steps", it is logical to assume that Coltrane used
other ditone progression patterns out of the Thesaurus in his pursuit of cyclical
material. Demsey claims, "Coltrane likely developed his awareness of three key cycles on the saxophone through practicing this material in all keys."72
Slonimsky labels one particular group of patterns included in the ditone
progression portion of the Thesaurus as "Miscellaneous Patterns". These
include sixteen patterns constructed using dominant seventh chords progressing
by the interval of a major third and are further classified by root position, first
inversion, second inversion, and third inversion. One of these patterns is
included in Example 4. It consists of root position dominant seventh chords a
major third apart ascending from D7 and descending from Bb7. The last chord
outlined in the pattern is a D7 chord. Notice that the last note of the previous
chord (F#7) is an “e”. This note is the lowered seventh of the F#7 chord and the
ninth of the following D7 chord. The appearance of the ninth somewhere in the
previous dominant chord occurs in all sixteen of the ditone progression dominant
72
Ibid., 156.
34
7th patterns in the Thesaurus because of the relationship of the major third
interval between the chords. Therefore, in all melodic patterns of this nature this
b7th/9th relationship can act as a connection or “pivot” between the dominant
seventh chords. Thus, in an analysis of Coltrane’s major thirds cyclic patterns
you would expect to see the frequent occurrence of the ninth appearing as one of
the first tones in the implied dominant seventh chords.
Example 4: Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns,
pattern #372
An excellent illustration of a melodically implied major thirds cycle is Example 5.
Notice the frequent occurrence of the 9th in each of the dominant chords. This
particular example is from John Coltrane’s improvisation on the composition
“Brasilia”, which contains a harmonically static accompaniment identified by
Andrew White as Eb minor (concert pitch). Example 5 includes two complete
cycles starting on an implied V7 – I cadence in Eb major. All of the dominant
chords in these cycles eventually imply tonic with the appearance of the third of
the tonic chords. Thus, the implied harmonic progression written as one
complete cycle is Eb: V7 – I / B: V7 – I / G: V7 – I / Eb: V7 – I (tenor saxophone
transposition). The cycles in this example descend by major thirds, exactly like
35
the cycle in the first half of the composition “Giant Steps”. David Demsey has
identified other Coltrane compositions with descending major thirds cycles similar
to the progression implied in Example 5. These include “Countdown” and “Fifth
House” from 1959; “26-2”, “Satellite”, and “Exotica” from 1960.73 The significant
difference here is that the cycle implied by Coltrane on “Brasilia” is not played by
the rhythm section in the accompaniment, while the Coltrane compositions from
1959 and 1960 include the thirds cycles as accompanying chord progressions.
Example 5 : John Coltrane, Brasilia, transcribed by Andrew White
The following four excerpts that constitute Examples 6, 7, 8, and 9, are all taken
from John Coltrane's improvised solo on "Brasilia", the same solo from which
Example 5 was taken. A quick scan of all these excerpts reveals that Coltrane
has systematically covered all twelve keys in this improvised solo by playing four
73
Ibid., 179-80.
36
different major thirds cycles. Example 6 does not imply the same clear V7 - I
harmony that was observed in Example 5. In fact, one complete cycle is barely
completed before the final Gb major harmony becomes ambiguous with the
appearance of a g2 and an f-flat3 (circled in the example). Another interesting
feature of Example 6 is the introduction of the tonic pitch before the next key has
been firmly established. This occurs when Coltrane plays b-flat2 (circled in the
example) while he is still clearly implying D major. Notice that this results in a Bb
augmented triad (with a2 added as a #7) that outlines the three key centers of
this particular major thirds cycle (Bb, D, and Gb).
Example 6: John Coltrane, Brasilia, transcribed by Andrew White
Example 7 follows the pattern set by Example 6 in that the implied harmony is
not V7 - I in each of the keys of the cycle. The cyclic relationship is noticeably
apparent since the material Coltrane played in the initial key of F major to start
the cycle resembles the material played in the return of F major. Pitches that
appear to be outside the implied key structure have been circled. These include
37
a g2 in the A major portion of the cycle (a "c" natural is also indicated by Andrew
White with parenthesis) and a d3 used as a passing tone in the last Db major
portion of the cycle.
Example 8 is an excellent illustration of the 9th appearing near the beginning of
each of the dominant chords that introduces the implied tonal centers. It appears
as the first or second note in each of the implied key centers of E major, C major,
and Ab major in which the ninth of each dominant seventh chord is either the first
or the second note, except in the last Ab major section where it appears just
before the implied resolution to tonic.
38
Example 9 is a masterful passage by Coltrane that covers five complete cycles
over implied key centers of Eb major, B major, and G major. Here we see a clear
V7 - I implication in each key that was also evident in Example 5, which covered
the same three keys. The only aberrations that can be found are altered ninths
in the dominants that occur in two of the G major sections (which have been
circled in the excerpt).
39
As mentioned earlier, Coltrane covers all twelve keys in this improvisation
by starting each of the cycles in the above examples on four different notes one
half step apart. Simply listing the tonal centers starting with Example 6 can
40
reveal this logic. In that example the key centers are Gb major – D major – Bb
major; in Example 7 Coltrane plays the cycle down one half-step to F major – Db
major – A major; the sequence is an additional half-step lower in Example 8 to E
major - C major- Ab major; and finally, in Example 9 it is Eb major – B major – G
major. It is important to note that Examples 6 and 7 occur adjacent to one
another in the beginning of the improvisation, while Examples 8 and 9 occur
adjacent to one another at the end. The symmetrical construction is also
revealed in another way in that all of the cycles (including Example 5) are
descending major thirds cycles.
Example 10 is from Coltrane's improvised solo on the composition "Nature
Boy" by Eden Ahbez, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio on February 18th,
1965. It is another excellent example of an extended implied major thirds cycle.
The pattern encompasses over five complete cycles implying the key centers of
C major, Ab major, and E major. As can be seen in this example, with the
exception of two of the patterns in C major, there are very few departures from
the implied dominant seventh – tonic harmony. In fact, the example contains
many instances of the now familiar 9th occurring on the implied dominant chords.
The only unfamiliar note is the implied altered b5 (circled) in the penultimate E
major pattern. This can be interpreted as an anticipation of the following C major
pattern.
41
Example 10: John Coltrane, Nature Boy, transcribed by Andrew White
42
After the recording session in May of 1965 that produced "Brasilia", John
Coltrane's next three recording sessions provide the most frequent and clearest
examples of implied major thirds cycles. These occurred on May 25th, June
10th, and June 16th of 1965. They all took place at Van Gelder's studio in
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey with the same personnel from John Coltrane's
Quartet; McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on
drums. The only exception to this is that Roy Haynes replaced Elvin Jones on
the May 26th session. The compositions include "After the Crescent" and "One
Down, One Up" recorded on May 26th; "Untitled Original 90314", "Transition",
and "Peace and After" (which is the second of the five movement work entitled
"Suite") recorded on June 10th; and "Untitled Original 90320" recorded on June
16th. The untitled works from the recordings on June 10th and 16th carry a
numerical designation assigned by the record company (Impulse).
Examples 11 and 12 are examples of implied descending major thirds
cycles with the typical appearance of the 9th on the implied dominant chord,
which in turn implies the resolution to tonic. The only non-diatonic pitch implied
in Example 11 is the occurrence of a b9 on the dominant of the second Ab major
pattern. Example 12 contains a #5 on the implied dominant seventh chord in the
first Ab major pattern. This tone is also the root of the B7 chord of the following E
major pattern. The harmonic structure (as indicated by Andrew White) is a thirtytwo bar chorus in a modal AABA form. Example 11 contains two complete major
thirds cycles (encompassing twenty-four measures) beginning with an implied Ab
major pattern. This pattern starts on a "B" section and ends on an "A" section.
43
Example 12 is exactly sixteen measures long and is played entirely over "A"
section harmony.
Example 11: John Coltrane, After the Crescent, transcribed by Andrew White
44
Example 12: John Coltrane, After the Crescent, transcribed by Andrew White
There are two recordings of the composition "One Down, One Up" that
have currently been made available. Example 13 and 14 are from the same
recording session on May 25th that produced "After the Crescent". The other
recording of "One Down, One Up" was from Coltrane's appearance at the
Newport Jazz Festival on the evening of July 2nd, 1965. This composition has a
melody that consists of two augmented triads (C+ and Db+) one half step apart
over a Bb7#5 chord (concert pitch) for sixteen measures that constitutes two
45
eight bar "A" sections. Two more augmented triads (Bb+ and B+) that make up
an eight measure melody in the "B" section over an Ab7#5 chord (concert pitch).
This is followed by the return of another eight measure "A" section. Example 13
occurs entirely over an "A" section of the composition. This is significant
because one of the augmented triads (Db+) in the melody of the "A" section has
the same notes as the tonic pitches of the key centers of the cycle implied in
Example 13. Given that Coltrane used these augmented triads as material for
improvisation in this piece, he has simply expanded the concept to include not
only the pitches of the Db+ triad, but implied key centers using the three pitches
of that triad as tonic. He has repeated this process in Example 14 with a cycle
implying the key centers of Gb major, D major, and Bb major over a "B" section
in the form that would correspond to the notes of a Bb+ triad from the melody.
Example 13: John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, transcribed by Andrew White
46
Example 15 is a complete cycle implying the key centers of E major, C
major, and Ab major. It is unremarkable when compared with the other
examples except for the feature that it shares with "After the Crescent" (Example
12). In Example 15, the occurrence of g2 as a #5 in the B7 chord (circled in the
example) is also the root of the following implied G7 chord in the key of C major.
This occurred in Example 12 between the implied key centers of Ab major and E
major.
47
Example 15: John Coltrane, Peace and After (from Suite), transcribed by
Andrew White
Example 16 is the first illustration of Coltrane moving directly from one
implied major thirds cycle to an entirely different one. He begins with two
complete cycles implying the descending key centers of E major, C major, and
Ab major. Coltrane then implies a complete cycle over Eb major, B major, and G
major only to return to the implied key centers of the previous cycle. Example 16
is taken from the improvisation on the composition "Transition".
48
Example 16: John Coltrane, Transition, transcribed by Andrew White
49
Two final examples from the recording session on June 10th, 1965 appear
as Examples 17 and 18. They are taken from Coltrane's improvisation on the
composition "Untitled 90314". Example 17 contains two complete cycles with
clearly implied V7 - I cadences in the keys of C major, Ab major, and E major.
Example 18 contains three complete cycles implying the key centers of G major,
Eb major, and B major.
Example 17: John Coltrane, Untitled 90314, transcribed by Andrew White
50
Example 18: John Coltrane, Untitled 90314, transcribed by Andrew
White
Examples 19 and 20 are from the composition "Untitled 90320" recorded
on June 16th, 1965. Example 19 implies two complete cycles over C major, Ab
major, and E major with the typical appearance of the 9th on the impied dominant
seventh chords. Example 20 is a similar passage one half step down over B
major, G major, and Eb major encompassing over two complete cycles.
51
52
On February 22, 1967 John Coltrane recorded six duets with drummer
Rashied Ali, which would ultimately be released on the Impulse recordings
Interstellar Space and Jupiter Variation. Two examples of major third relations
from one of these compositions, entitled "Mars", have been included here to
highlight the differences in the major thirds cycles from 1965. On these duet
recordings, the examples of third relations are much more numerous, but less
53
well defined. Example 21 has been extracted from a portion of Coltrane's
improvisation in which three different major thirds cycles can be discerned.
Example 21 is the clearest and longest of these cycles. As can be seen in the
example below, it contains one complete implied cycle over the key centers of F#
major, D major, and Bb major (plus one extra pattern in D major). A close
examination reveals that it is still possible to discern a dominant seventh - tonic
relationship in all but the first pattern in F# major. However, it is much more
compact than the five cycle excerpts from 1965. Example 22 is very similar in
construction. It appears somewhat later in the improvisation and covers a little
over one complete cycle implying the key centers of C major, Ab major, and E
major. Again, a dominant seventh - tonic relationship can be discerned in all but
the first C major pattern.
Example 21: John Coltrane, Mars, Transcribed by Andrew White
54
Example 22: John Coltrane, Mars, Transcribed by Andrew White
It is apparent in reading John Coltrane's interviews that he desired more
freedom than the typical repeated chorus structure of standard jazz repertoire. In
his interview with Valerie Wilmer in 1962, Coltrane indicated that this would be
his approach.
Recently I've been doing songs with the rhythm section
having more freedom and not being bound to chordal structures,
but still giving the soloist just as much freedom. Sometimes we
start with one chord and drop it later, and improvise on the bass
line or the piano, and this I find much easier to do on original
material. I haven't done it on a 'standard' yet, but maybe I will
soon. But unless I find a simple one, there are no more
breakthroughs on those standards for me.74
John Coltrane's pianist, McCoy Tyner, confirmed this idea in an interview for
Down Beat in 1963.
A rhythm section is supposed to support and inspire a
soloist, and it is a very sensitive thing...Sometimes when John is
soloing I lay out completely. Something very important is
74
55
involved here, I think. The pianist tends to play chords that the
soloist knows are coming up anyway. Normally, all the pianist
does is try to give him a little extra push in the accompaniment
and possibly suggest some new ideas. When the pianist isn't
there, the soloist can concentrate purely on what he has in mind
with fewer limitations or boundaries. Otherwise, what the pianist
plays can attract his attention away from his original thought. So
it is all a matter of giving the soloist more freedom to explore
harmonically. 75
By 1966, Coltrane had reached the point where he would tell Frank Kofsky that
"...we don't follow what the piano does anymore, because we all move in our own
directions."76 One of these "directions" for John Coltrane is clearly the practice of
using major thirds cycles as melodic vocabulary for improvisation. Ironically,
these major thirds cycles are one of the remnants of Coltrane's methods for
mastering multi-chord structures. What started for him as a means for mastering
difficult chord progressions and chord substitutions in his own compositions and
those of standard jazz repertoire became one of the solutions that provided
direction for improvisation over compositions with modal or free structure. The
experiment that began with the compositions "Countdown" and "Giant Steps" in
1959 that used major thirds cycles as chord structure can effectively be traced to
melodic vocabulary in the improvisations of some of his last recordings in
February of 1967.
75
Ibid., 182.
76
Ibid., 140.
56
CHAPTER 4: INTERVAL CYCLES IN COLTRANE'S MELODIC VOCABULARY
BASED ON PATTERNS FROM SLONIMSKY’S THESAURUS
The interval cycles used by John Coltrane were unlike typical jazz
vocabulary used by other artists in improvisation up to that time. Coltrane's
interval cycles are so similar to Slonimsky's cyclic patterns that the terminology in
the Thesaurus is a convenient means with which to classify and analyze them.
They will be categorized by the same classifications in which Slonimsky divides
the Thesaurus. Four of the categories of Coltrane's cyclic patterns analyzed in
this chapter are based on the progression of intervals that divide one octave into
equal parts: the tritone progression (augmented fourth), the ditone progression
(major third), the sesquitone progression (minor third), and the whole-tone
progression (major second). There are also several patterns in this chapter that
are based on the diatessaron progression (perfect fourth).
Example 23 is an excerpt from one of the duets recorded with Rashied Ali
entitled "Mars" (1967) and contains a cycle beginning on c 2 and then proceeding
by the interval of a perfect fourth (or its inversion, the perfect fifth) until c 2 is
reached again. Once Coltrane finishes one complete cycle of fourths, he
immediately starts on c2 again and completes eight more pitches of another cycle
of fourths. This example includes a good illustration of the horizontal brackets
that will be used in this chapter to indicate the progression of the principal
57
interval. The vertical bracket like the one in Example 23 that has been inserted
at the end of the first cycle of fourths and before the beginning of the next one
will be used throughout this chapter to separate individual interval cycles.
Example 23: John Coltrane, Mars, transcribed by Andrew White
In the Thesaurus, Slonimsky arranges a cycle similar to Example 23 as a wholetone progression with an ultrapolation of one note a perfect fifth above the
principal interval. This pattern is designated in the Thesaurus as pattern #574
and is diagramed in Example 24. The part of the Slonimsky pattern that most
resembles the Coltrane pattern has been diagramed using horizontal brackets to
connect the notes in the whole-tone progression while the ultrapolations are
circled. Notice in Coltrane 's first cycle in Example 23, that the perfect fourths g2
to c3 and f2 to b-flat2 are used as passing tones in the primary progression of
whole tones (as in pattern #574). When the cycle repeats itself, these passing
58
tones are not included, indicating that the cycle of fourths was probably the
principal progression.
#574
Reprinted by permission of Schirmer Trade Books, a division of Music Sales Corporation
An earlier example of a partial cycle of fourths can be found in "Brasilia"
(1965). This passage, included as Example 25, contains seven different pitches
progressing by perfect fourth (or its intervallic inversion, the perfect fifth).
An example of John Coltrane using the perfect fourth as the principal
interval in a pattern is illustrated as Example 26. This pattern is the first motive
played by Coltrane on the composition "Jupiter", from the Interstellar Space
recording that feature the duets with drummer Rashied Ali. This motive also
59
returns at the end and is developed over the course of the improvisation. If it
cannot be called a melody, it could certainly be called the primary motive. As
can be seen in the example, the diatessaron progression is emphasized
rhythmically. Each note of this particular interval progression, c2, f2, and b-flat2
are played as dotted eighth notes. The other notes are symmetrically placed in
this principal progression as an interpolation (between the notes of the principal
interval) and an ultrapolation (above the notes of the principal interval). These
added notes are circled in Example 26.
Example 26: John Coltrane, Jupiter, transcribed by Andrew White
The Thesaurus provides a model for this construction as pattern #892, a
diatessaron progression with an infra-interpolation (with added tones below and
between the principal interval). This pattern is included as Example 27. The
symmetrical construction, as it appears in Example 26, is a melodically stronger
pattern by nature of the whole and half step approaches to the pitches of the
principal interval. Slonimsky typically uses patterns in the Thesaurus that outline
triads and Example 27 is no exception. Beginning on the second note in
60
Example 27, minor triads are outlined progressing in fourths. By arranging the
pattern the way he does, Coltrane is able to melodically and rhythmically
emphasize the movement by the principal interval of the fourth as opposed to the
progression of minor triads by that interval.
Example 27: Nicloas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns,
pattern #892
Another instance of John Coltrane employing a cyclic pattern using the
fourth as the principal interval can be found in the same duet recording
Interstellar Space (1967) as Example 26. This pattern is from the composition
“Saturn" and is diagramed as Example 28, starting on the pitches e 2, a2, b-flat,
and f#2. As can be seen in the example, none of these patterns comes close to
forming a complete cycle of fourths. The pattern that begins on the "b-flat”
actually progresses furthest into the cycle. At other points in the excerpt, notably
on the pitches d2 and c1, only one interval is sounded. Clearly, Coltrane is using
this pattern as a motive and an important feature in this motive is the
interpolation that occurs one whole step above the bottom note of the principal
interval. This note is circled in Example 28.
61
Example 28: John Coltrane, Saturn, transcribed by Andrew White
The model for the Coltrane pattern listed above appears in the Thesaurus as
pattern #827. This pattern is cited as Example 29. Slonimsky labels it as a
diatessaron progression with an interpolation of one note. Like the Coltrane
pattern, the one note interpolation occurs as a whole step above the bottom note
of the principal interval.
pattern #827
62
John Coltrane’s improvised solo on “Venus”, also from Interstellar Space,
yields an example of a pattern constructed using the principal interval of the
major third (ditone). This progression forms a one octave complete cycle
ascending by major thirds using the notes c2, e2, and a-flat2, as indicated by the
horizontal brackets in Example 30. The Thesaurus pattern #270, cited as
Example 16b, uses these same notes to construct this ditone progression. As
can be seen by a comparison of the two patterns, the notes used as
infrapolations in the construction of Example 31 match the circled notes of the
Coltrane pattern in Example 30 exactly. Coltrane extrapolates freely, but only on
the pitches included by Slonimsky as the infrapolations.
Example 30: John Coltrane, Venus, transcribed by Andrew White
63
#270, ditone Progression with Infrapolation of Three Notes
Another use of the ditone progression patterns included in the Thesaurus
of Scales and Melodic Patterns by John Coltrane has been suggested by John
Schott (discussed in Chapter 1). Schott outlines the symmetrical construction of
the melody in the Coltrane composition “One Down, One Up” and suggests the
possible connection to the Thesaurus pattern #186.77 As Schott mentions, the
notes of the melody in “One Down, One Up” consist of two hexachords. One of
these corresponds to the “A” sections of the overall thirty-two measure “AABA”
form of the composition, while the other corresponds to the single eight-measure
“B” section. Schott identifies the notes included in these hexachords as
constituting of two augmented triads one half step apart.78 The pitches for the
notes of the melody in the “B” section of the piece are transposed down one
whole step from the notes of the melody in the “A” section of the piece. The
melody of “One Down, One Up” is outlined as Example 32 with the augmented
triads by horizontal brackets and circled tones. The melody for the “A” section is
77
Ibid., 349.
78
Ibid., 350.
64
displayed in the first staff, while the melody for the “B” section is displayed in the
second staff. The “A” section melody consists of the C+ and Db+ triads, while
the “B” section melody is transposed down a whole step to Bb+ and Cb+ triads.
All of the following examples of “One Down, One Up” were taken from John
Coltrane’s studio recording of May 26, 1965. The other available recording of
this composition is from Coltrane’s appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival on
July 2, 1965.
Example 32: John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, melody (beginning),
transcribed by Andrew White
As Schott observes, the augmented triads from the melody are used as the basis
for much of the ensuing improvisation.79 An illustration of this can be seen as
Example 33, from the beginning of the improvisation. In the example the first two
staves are over the “A” section of the form, while the second two staves are over
the “B” section of the form.
79
Ibid.
65
Example 33: John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, improvisation, transcribed by
Andrew White
Returning to the melody of “One Down, One Up” after the improvisation, Coltrane
again utilizes the augmented triads, but in a distinctly different way than he
played them in the first statement of the melody (see Example 32). Whereas in
the previous example the first augmented triad descended and the second triad
ascended, Coltrane now plays both augmented triads descending. This
configuration is illustrated in Example 34.
66
Example 34: John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, melody (return), transcribed by
Andrew White
Example 35 contains pattern #186 in the Thesaurus cited by Schott as a
connection to Coltrane’s composition “One Down, One Up”. Slonimsky labels
this cyclic pattern as a ditone progression with an ultrapolation of one note.
When the system of brackets and circled tones is applied to pattern #186, the
similarity to Coltrane’s pattern is much more apparent. These are the same
pitches that are contained in the first two augmented triads from the melody of
“One Down, One Up”.
#186
67
Schott also lists four other patterns from the Thesaurus as possible
influences on composition “One Down, One Up”. Pattern #190 from the
Thesaurus contains the same pitches and principal interval progression, but a
different ultrapolation. The other patterns listed by Schott from the Thesaurus
(#188, #192, and #231), contain two augmented triads a half step apart, but
instead of C+ and Db+ they contain the triads C+ and B+80 .
In discussing the two augmented triads that are used in “One Down, One
Up” (outlined in Chapter 1), Walt Weiskopf speculates that the melody is based
on the inverted augmented scale.81 Since this scale is symmetrical, the reverse
arrangement of the intervals, minor third followed by a half step, would also
produce the pitches of two augmented triads one half step apart on the first six
scale steps. This scale, commonly referred to as the augmented scale, is
included in the Thesaurus as pattern #182. It appears below as Example 36.
The pattern has been diagramed to illustrate the notes of the two augmented
triads, C+ and B+.
80
Schott, 349.
81
Weiskopf, Intervalic Improvisation, 16.
68
pattern #182
Even though Schott and Weiskopf have differing views on the origination of the
melodic material for the composition “One Down, One Up”, both theoretical
explanations utilize patterns with the ditone progression as the principal means of
construction. Given the extensive treatment of this pattern in the composition
“One Down, One Up”, it is quite possible that Coltrane composed this piece as a
vehicle to explore this particular interval cycle, much the same way that “Giant
Steps” was a vehicle for experimentation in the use of major thirds cycles. Unlike
“Giant Steps,” this experiment does not seem to have been extended much past
this particular composition.
In his discussion of triad pairs derived from the augmented scale, Walt
Weiskopf suggests that a pattern consisting of Bb+ and C+ triads would be an
appropriate melodic application over the C7(#5) harmony of the “A” section of the
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“One Down, One Up”. Weiskopf explains that this is due to the whole-tone
derivation of that particular chord and pattern.82 In fact, Coltrane utilizes this
pattern in his improvisation over the “A” section of the form. This passage is
listed as Example 37, complete with bracketing and circled tones to highlight the
two different augmented triads.
As it so happens, this pattern occurs in the Thesaurus as #187, a ditone
progression with an ultrapolation of one note. Pattern #187 is listed as Example
38. This sequence of notes also occurs in the Thesaurus as pattern #191, #232,
and #235.
82
Ibid.
70
pattern #187
There is another whole-tone pattern in the configuration of two augmented triads
that appears in an earlier position in Coltrane’s improvisation on “One Down, One
Up”. This pattern appears as Example 39. It also happens that this occurrence
is over the “B” section of the composition. Interestingly enough, Coltrane utilizes
the augmented triad pattern that implies the whole-tone scale a half step away
from the one he played over “A” section harmony in Example 37. In this
configuration, one of the augmented triads, Cb+, is the same as one of the triads
implied in the melody of the “B” section, while the other one, A+, is a half step
lower than the other augmented triad implied by the melody of the “B” section.
This provides the listener an interesting, albeit dissonant, contrast.
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The recording of the composition “Nature Boy” actually occurred twice in
February of 1965. Another recording of this composition the previous day, the
17th, at Van Gelder’s studio, preceded the recording on February 18th, cited in
Chapter 3. Example 40 contains an excerpt from this recording that illustrates
Coltrane’s use of two augmented triads a whole step apart. The excerpt is
constructed exclusively from the pitches of a whole-tone scale. As can be seen
from the Example 40, the augmented triads A+ and B+, which Coltrane uses in
the “One Down, One Up” triadic configuration, contain all the notes of the wholetone scale used in this particular passage.
Example 40: John Coltrane, Nature Boy (2/17/65), transcribed by Andrew White
Example 41 is from the recording of “Nature Boy” the very next day on the 18th.
This is an improvised passage that exclusively employs the same whole-tone
series used in Example 40. However, this improvised passage is more extensive
and the augmented triads used are E#+ and Eb+.
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Example 41: John Coltrane, Nature Boy (2/18/65), transcribed by Andrew White
The passage cited as Example 42 uses the triads, C+ and Bb+, to introduce
material that certainly seems to be derived from the corresponding whole-tone
sonority, with the single exception of the g1 in parenthesis. After that, a definitive
whole-tone pattern emerges (indicated by vertical brackets) that Coltrane
develops for three and a half measures. This example was taken from the
composition “Untitled 90314” recorded on June 10th, 1965. This was the same
improvised solo that later included two implied major thirds cycles that were
extracted and used as examples in Chapter 3 (Examples 17 and 18).
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Coltrane did not always use this symmetrical pattern (consisting of two
augmented triads a whole step apart) exclusively as part of a larger whole-tone
passage. Example 43 contains an implied ii – V7 – I chord progression in the
key of C. Notice the #7 on the implied D minor chord and the #7 passing tone on
the G7 chord, both of which are typical chromatic alterations in jazz vocabulary
over ii – V7 – I chord progressions. Following the tonal implication in C major,
Coltrane utilizes the two augmented triad pattern. This pattern outlines the
whole-tone scale that typically would be played by jazz musicians over a G7
chord, especially with the appearance of the c#3 in the D minor chord. The
appearance of this symmetrical whole-tone pattern with the implied ii – V7 – I
progression that precedes it has a distinct tonal application not found in the
previous examples. This excerpt comes from the composition “Song of Praise”,
recorded on May 17, 1965.
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Example 43: John Coltrane, Song of Praise, transcribed by Andrew White
An example of a sesquitone, or minor third, progression used as melodic
vocabulary in a Coltrane improvisation occurs just before the E major, C major,
and Ab major implied major thirds cycle from the composition “Brasilia”, cited in
Chapter 3 as Example 8. This pattern is cited as Example 44 and involves two
different minor thirds cycles. The first involves the principal progression on the
pitches e-flat2, g-flat2, a2, and c3 before the cycle progresses through two more
minor third intervals that repeat the first two pitches from the cycle one octave
higher. Coltrane then immediately transposes the pattern down a perfect fourth
from the starting note of the previous cycle and progresses through the cycle on
the pitches b-flat1, d-flat2, e2, and g2 before starting the minor third interval series
again and breaking off the pattern one minor third interval short of two complete
cycles. The tones added to these minor thirds interval cycles are one half step
below the notes of the principal interval series. Slonimsky would label these
added tones “infrapolations”. It is easy to follow the framework of Coltrane’s
improvisation by tracing the interval cycles. This progression begins on a minor
thirds cycle beginning on the pitch e-flat2; is transposed to the minor thirds cycle
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beginning on the pitch b-flat1; and ends with a major thirds cycle on the implied
key centers of E major, C major, and Ab major. Example 8 has been reproduced
in the context of Example 44 to illustrate this progression. Close examination
reveals that most of the notes that fall between the second minor thirds cycle and
the major thirds cycle repeat the principal interval pitches of this second minor
thirds cycle (b-flat1, d-flat2, e2, g2).
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Thesaurus pattern #447 corresponds to the two minor thirds cycles that appear in
Example 44 and is listed as Example 45. Slonimsky labels this pattern as a
sesquitone progression with an infrapolation of one note.
pattern #447
An illustration of a minor third cyclic interval pattern from “Saturn”, on the
Interstellar Space recording of 1967, is diagramed in Example 46. Although
there are sixteenth-note grace notes included, the principal ultrapolation in this
example is agogically accented. They are each located a major third above of
the principal interval pitches and are circled in Example 46. Following this cycle,
Coltrane continues to use an ultrapolation of a major third but changes the
principal interval cycle to the semitone. This has not been diagramed with
brackets, as the “d” has been left out of the cycle of descending semitones.
However, the extrapolation from the previous minor thirds cycle is clear.
Coltrane has maintained the ultrapolation, but changed the cycle. As in Example
44, Coltrane’s improvisation at this point is being guided by interval progressions.
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Example 46: John Coltrane, Saturn, transcribed by Andrew
White
The corresponding Thesaurus pattern to Example 46 appears as Example 47.
The descending portion of this pattern has been diagramed to illustrate the
similarities to Coltrane’s example from “Saturn”. Slonimksy labels this pattern as
a sesquitone progression with an ultrapolation of one note.
#394
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Although all of the examples included in this study have been derived from John
Coltrane’s vocabulary starting in 1965, he not doubt experimented with cyclic
interval patterns earlier. One such example can be found from the recording
Coltrane made on October 8, 1963 of the tune “I Want to Talk About You”. This
is a piece from standard jazz repertoire that Coltrane recorded live at the New
York jazz club “Birdland”. Although this is a composition based on a repeated
chorus structure, Coltrane included an extended cadenza on his version. As this
cadenza is unaccompanied and he is not obligated to follow a chord progression,
it is to be expected that Coltrane would include patterns based on interval cycles
at this point in the recording. Several are apparent, but the particular example
most applicable to the present discussion is an abbreviated pattern based on a
minor thirds cycle. In Example 48, Coltrane utilizes a symmetrical construction
based on the principal pitches d#2 and f#2 (diagramed with horizontal brackets)
with added tones placed a whole step and a perfect fourth above each of these
principal tones (circled). At this point it is uncertain whether the intended
principal pitches are part of an interval cycle. However, immediately after this
pattern Coltrane plays a complete cycle of minor thirds that does include the d#2
and the f#2, leading to the impression that these were indeed the principal
pitches of the pattern at the beginning of Example 48
.
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Example 48: John Coltrane, I Want to Talk About You, transcribed by Andrew
White
As further proof of this hypothesis, the Thesaurus includes a pattern that is
identical to the one that Coltrane played in Example 48. This pattern, listed as
Example 49, uses the minor thirds cycle (sesquitone progression) as the principal
interval, with an inter-ultrapolation of a whole step and a perfect fourth above
each of the pitches in the cycle. This pattern was the likely inspiration for the one
played by Coltrane in the cadenza of “I Want to Talk About You”.
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#497
Example 50, from “Jupiter”, contains an illustration of a pattern from a
Coltrane improvisation constructed around a progression of whole steps. This
particular pattern uses an ultrapolation of one note a minor third above the
principal interval progression. The sixteenth-note grace notes are used by
Coltrane to embellish the pattern, similar to the way they were used in the pattern
of Example 46. They do not alter the overall structure of the pattern.
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Example 50: John Coltrane, Jupiter, transcribed by Andrew White
The model for Coltrane’s pattern from “Jupiter” is provided as Example 51.
It appears in the Thesaurus as pattern #570, a whole tone progression with an
ultrapolation of one note (located a minor third above the principal interval
pitches). The descending portion of the pattern has been included in this
example to highlight the similarity to the Coltrane pattern as it appears in
Example 50.
82
#570
Example 52 is yet another excerpt from the duet recordings with Rashied
Ali. This particular example is from the composition “Saturn” and includes
another illustration of Coltrane using interval cycles as a means to organize and
unify parts of his improvisation. Example 52 actually begins in the portion of
Coltrane’s improvisation where Example 28 (diatessaron progression with a one
note interpolation) left off. The first note, c#3, of the principal whole tone
progression outlined by the horizontal brackets in Example 52 is actually the
interpolation between the perfect fourth formed by the pitches b2 to e3. Working
backwards in the example, this particular b2 is the pitch that completes a perfect
fourth from the previous f#2, with the pitch g#2 providing the interpolation. In this
way, a series of perfect fourths (diatessaron progression) is formed consecutively
from the pitches f#2, b2, and e3. The pitches g#2 and c#3 serve as one note
interpolations one whole step above the bottom notes of each of these perfect
fourths. This is the interval cycle as outlined in Examples 28 and 29. The whole
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tone progression, as diagramed in Example 52, begins at this point with the c#3.
Following the added tones, the next pitch in the progression after the c# 3 is b2,
which forms the first whole step of this principal interval series (shown in
horizontal brackets in Example 52). This whole step frames an ultra-infrapolation
using the pitches e3 and a2 (which are both circled in Example 52). The pattern
descends one complete cycle to c#2, one octave below the starting pitch, at
which time it breaks off only to resume once again and continue descending to eflat1. Notice that the pattern also has a tonal configuration (descending major
triads, beginning on the third of the chord). After the last note of this particular
principal interval series (e-flat1), Coltrane utilizes the ultrapolation (g-flat1) but not
the infrapolation to construct his next pattern. This anticipates the start of the
next interval cycle that begins with f2 on the next staff of Example 52. The
principal interval of this next pattern is again the whole step (ascending), with a
one-note ultrapolation that occurs at the interval of a minor third. This is the
same cyclic interval pattern that was diagramed in Example 50. Thus, the
progression of cycles in Example 52 can be listed as: diatessaron (if the cycle
from Example 28 is included), whole-tone, and whole-tone.
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Example 52: John Coltrane, Saturn, transcribed by Andrew White
The first whole-tone cyclic interval pattern from Example 52 can be found in the
Thesaurus as pattern #606, cited as Example 53. The only difference is that
Slonimsky reverses the order of the added tones, placing the infrapolation first
and then the ultrapolation. Notice that the pattern still forms major triads
ascending by whole-step beginning on the third of the chord.
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#606
The second whole-tone cyclic interval pattern from Example 52 can be found in
the Thesaurus as pattern #570. This was the same pattern found in Example 50
(“Jupiter”), only in the descending form. In Example 52, it is in the ascending
form. This pattern in the ascending form is diagramed as Example 54.
#570
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Excluding the diatessaron (perfect fourth) progression, all of the patterns
from John Coltrane’s melodic vocabulary covered in this document thus far have
been based on progressions from the Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns
that divide one octave into equal parts. These progressions have included the
ditone (major third), sesquitone (minor third), and whole-tone. The last of
Coltrane’s patterns included for analysis in this study will be those based on the
tritone progression. This is the intervallic progression that divides one octave
into two equal parts. Slonimsky forms patterns from the tritone progression in the
Thesaurus using the system of adding tones to the principal progression.
Example 55, listed as #2 Thesaurus, is diagramed to illustrate this construction.
The principal interval in this particular pattern is formed from the pitches c1, f#1,
and c2 with the added tones in the form of interpolations placed one whole step
above the principal interval pitches. One complete cycle is diagramed in
Example 55 using interpolations on the pitches d1 and g#1. The result is a very
short interval cycle spanning one octave and consisting of only four different
pitches. Slonimsky labels this pattern a tritone progression with an interpolation
of one note.
87
Due to the brevity of the patterns such as the one diagramed in Example 55,
Coltrane often employs them as motivic material for part of a larger passage.
Example 56 is from the Coltrane’s improvisation on the composition “One Down,
One Up”. The specific tritone interval cycle in this example is diagramed. Notice
that all of the notes included inside the vertical brackets in the example are the
same notes contained in the diagramed tritone interval cycle. Coltrane
superimposes the notes from this interval cycle over the Ab7(#5) chord (concert
pitch) of the “B” section of the form of “One Down, One Up”. This is a somewhat
dissonant application of this pattern, but because of its cyclical construction the
resulting superimposition is a very effective one.
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Example 57 diagrams the descending portion of pattern #2 that is of identical
construction to the diagramed cycle of Example 56. The pitches of the principal
interval as diagramed in this example are c 3, f#2, and c2. The pitches of the
interpolation are g#2 and d2. This interval pattern is transposed up a minor third
from the pattern diagramed in Example 56.
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In tonal harmony, the tritone is the interval between the 3rd and the 7th of
a dominant chord that must be resolved in the cadence to the tonic. In a later
excerpt from the same improvisation on “One Down, One Up”, Coltrane
constructs his cyclic interval pattern around the 3rd and 7th of the Bb7(#5) chord
(concert pitch), which functions as the structural harmony in the “A” section of
that composition. This excerpt is included as Example 58. The principal pitches
of the diagramed pattern are b-flat2 and e2, which are the 7th and the 3rd,
respectively, of the C7(#5) chord (tenor saxophone transposition) in the
accompaniment. The a-flat2 and d2 serve as interpolations one whole step below
the notes of the principal interval. All of the pitches of this excerpt belong
exclusively to this cyclic interval pattern except for the c2 at the end of the first
staff of Example 58, which serves as the tonic of the chord in the
accompaniment.
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Example 59 diagrams the descending portion of pattern #3 that is of identical
construction to the diagramed cycle of Example 58. This interval pattern is
transposed up one whole step from the pattern diagramed in Example 58.
Example 59 : Nicolas Slonimsky, Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, #3
Example 60 is taken from the composition “Offering”, recorded on February 15,
1967 and issued on the Impulse label recording Expression. By this time, only
the bassist Jimmy Garrison remained from Coltrane’s classic quartet. Alice
Coltrane had replaced McCoy Tyner on piano and Rashied Ali had replaced Elvin
Jones on drums. Example 60 is constructed around the tritone interval on the
pitches c2, f#1, and c 1. The cyclic pattern inside the first set of vertical brackets
begins on c2 and includes a one-note interpolation one whole step below the
notes of the principal interval. This cycle is interrupted by a note outside of the
interval pattern (d1), after which the pattern resumes on f#1. The excerpt ends
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with Coltrane using the notes of both tritone pairs included in the previous cyclic
pattern. Example 60 is of identical construction and contains the exact same
pitches as Example 59, which diagrams the descending portion of a tritone
progression with an interpolation of one note.
Example 60: John Coltrane, Offering, transcribed by Andrew White
John Coltrane’s improvisation on the composition “Untitled 90320” also contains
a cyclic interval pattern constructed around the tritone that is identical in
construction to the descending portion of pattern #3 in Example 59. This interval
pattern is listed as Example 61. Coltrane repeats this pattern a total of four
times, after which he introduces material related to the C+ triad (diagramed in
vertical brackets). At the end of the excerpt, Coltrane utilizes the first five notes
of a whole-tone progression that includes all of the pitches of the cyclic tritone
pattern and the C+ triad. Thus, Coltrane has arranged similar material into three
different interval cycles: tritone, ditone, and whole-tone.
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Example 62, from “Venus” of the Interstellar Space recording of 1967,
contains an excerpt that capitalizes on a unique feature that results from the
construction of the interval cycles of pattern #2 and pattern #3. For the purpose
of explanation, Example 63 diagrams the ascending versions of both of these
patterns. Looking at Example 63, pattern #2, it is apparent that when a pitch is
added one whole step above each of the pitches of this tritone interval, two
tritone pairs are created that are located one whole step apart from one another.
The ascending version of patterns #3, in Example 63, demonstrates that when an
interpolation is added a major third above each of the principal pitches, two
different tritone pairs will be formed, but because of the symmetry of the tritone
interval they will still be located one whole step apart. In Example 63 both
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patterns form two pairs of tritones one whole step apart. The two tritone pairs
formed as a result of the interpolations in pattern #2 are c/f# and d/g#. The two
tritone pairs formed as a result of the interpolations in pattern #3 are c/f# and bflat/e. The excerpt from “Venus”, Example 62, contains the pitches of two tritone
pairs located one whole step apart. In this particular passage, the two tritone
pairs are f/b and g/c#. The only exceptions to this are three “d’s”, which are
designated with an arrow. The notes, as contained in this passage, no longer
resemble a cyclic interval pattern. The extent of the extrapolation has masked
the symmetry. However, an analysis of this type reveals the cyclical nature of
the excerpt.
Example 62: John Coltrane, Venus, transcribed by Andrew White
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pattern #2 and #3
The patterns in the next portion of this analysis of interval cycles based on
the tritone progression are classified by Nicolas Slonimsky in the Thesaurus as
“Symmetric Interpolations”. The tritone progression is the only interval cycle in
the Thesaurus that includes this category. This is due to the fact that since the
tritone interval divides an octave equally into two parts, an intervallic symmetry
can be created ascending and descending the middle of the octave by
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strategically inserting interpolations. An example of this kind of construction can
be seen in Example 64. In this example, the principal interval progression
(tritone) is represented by the pitches c 1, f#1, and c2. If a pitch is interpolated one
whole step above c1 and another a major third above f#1, represented by the
pitches d1 and b-flat1 respectively, a symmetry is created by the intervals
proceeding from f#1 down to c1 and from f# 1 up to c2. Ascending and descending
from f#1, the intervallic sequence is a major third followed by a whole step.
Slonimsky creates twenty-two patterns of this type in the Thesaurus by using
interpolations of one, two, and three notes.
pattern #28
Example 65 is an illustration of this kind of symmetric interpolation occurring in a
Coltrane improvisation on the composition “Untitled Original 90314”. The pitches
of the principal interval progression are f2, b2, and f3. The symmetric interpolation
occurs on the pitches a2 and c# 3. The symmetry is created ascending and
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descending from b2 by the intervallic sequence of a whole step followed by a
major third.
Example 65: John Coltrane, Untitled Original 90314, transcribed by Andrew
White
Example 65 contains the same construction as the Thesaurus pattern #30, listed
as Example 66. Slonimsky labels this pattern as a tritone progression with a
symmetric interpolation of one note. The principal interval progression is
represented in Example 66 by the pitches c1, f#1, and c2. The cyclic construction
is identical to that of the Coltrane pattern in Example 65.
pattern #30
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In Coltrane’s improvisation on the composition “Untitled Original 90314” the
material contained in Example 65 is immediately followed by the material from
Example 17 in Chapter 3. The entire passage has been reprinted as Example
67. An interesting feature about the cyclic interval pattern at the beginning of
Example 67 (and discussed in Example 65) is that the principal interval pitches f2
and b2 represent the 7th and the 3rd, respectively, of a G7 chord. This chord is
the dominant seventh of the first implied key center of C major in the major thirds
cycle that appears in Example 67. In this context there can be no doubt that f2,
b2, and f3 are the principal pitches utilized by Coltrane in this cyclic interval
pattern.
Example 67: John Coltrane, Untitled Original 90314, transcribed by Andrew
White
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Examples 68 and 69 are from the live version of “One Down, One Up” that was
recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1965. Example 68 includes two
cyclic patterns based on the tritone with a symmetric interpolation identical in
construction to the Thesaurus pattern #30 that was cited as Example 66.
However, in Example 68 the context in which both of these patterns occur is
whole-tone. The first cyclic pattern diagramed in Example 68 uses f-double
sharp1, c#2, f-double sharp2, and c# 3 as the pitches of the principal tritone interval
progression with a symmetric interpolation one whole step on either side of c#2
and c#3. The second cyclic pattern uses “b”, e#1, and b1 as the pitches of the
principal tritone interval progression with a symmetric interpolation of one whole
step on either side of e#1. All of the notes in both cycles belong to the wholetone scale that begins on “b”, indicated by the vertical brackets in Example 68.
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Example 69, from the same improvisation as the previous example, contains a
tritone interval pattern with a symmetric interpolation followed by a pattern of
notes extrapolated from this cycle. The principal pitches of the one octave cycle
are b-flat1, e1, and “b-flat” diagramed in Example 69. The symmetric interpolation
occurs as a major third on either side of the intermediate pitch (e1) represented
by the pitches a-flat1 and c 1. This construction is identical to the descending
portion of Thesaurus pattern #28, cited as Example 70, transposed down a major
ninth.
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pattern #28
Two more Coltrane tritone interval patterns with a symmetric interpolation that
are whole-tone related can be found in the version of the composition “Nature
Boy”, which was recorded on February 18, 1965. These patterns both span the
octave as one complete cycle and are diagramed in Example 71. The principal
intervals of the first diagramed cycle are designated as the pitches e#3, b2, and f2.
The symmetric interpolation is represented by the pitches c#3 and a2; each
located one whole step from the intermediate pitch b2. This interval cycle
introduces the whole-tone scale pattern that immediately follows (designated by
horizontal brackets). The second diagramed interval cycle uses c# 3, g2, and f2 as
the pitches of the principal interval with an a2 and an f2 as the pitches of the
interpolation located symmetrically on each side of the intermediate pitch g2.
This interval cycle also spans an octave to form one complete cycle and
introduces a whole-tone scale pattern formed right after it. Both of these interval
cycles are identical in construction (but located on different pitch levels) to the
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descending portion of the Thesaurus pattern #30, labeled by Slonimsky as a
tritone progression with a symmetric interpolation of one note. The descending
portion of pattern #30 from the Thesaurus is diagramed and included as Example
72.
pattern #30
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Example 73 is an excerpt that is taken from the same recording of “Nature Boy”
as Example 71, although earlier in Coltrane’s improvisation. Instead of the
whole-tone context found in Example 71, Example 73 contains three interval
cycles found in the context of D minor (#7), which is designated by the single set
of vertical brackets. The pitches of the principal interval progressions as
designated by the horizontal brackets in all three diagramed cyclic patterns of
Example 36c are the same but located in different octaves. Additionally, all are
complete cycles that span one octave. The first cyclic interval pattern that is
diagramed in Example 73 is a tritone progression with a one note symmetrical
interpolation. The symmetric interpolation occurs as one whole step above and
one whole step below the intermediate pitch b 2. This cyclic interval pattern is
identical in construction to the Thesaurus pattern #30, diagramed in Example 72.
The second diagramed cyclic interval pattern contains a symmetrical
interpolation of two notes. These notes are circled in the diagram and consist of
two half steps located on either side of the intermediate pitch b1. This particular
cyclic interval pattern is of identical construction (but different transposition) to
the Thesaurus pattern #40 diagramed in Example 74. Slonimsky labels this
pattern as a tritone progression with a symmetrical interpolation of two notes.
The last cyclic interval pattern diagramed in Example 73 starts on the principal
interval pitch “b” and progresses through f1 before ending on b1 one octave
above the starting pitch. Coltrane interpolates d-flat1 and g1 one whole step
above the pitches “b” and f1, respectively, creating a pattern identical in
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construction to the Thesaurus pattern #2, diagramed as Example 55. The
excerpt ends with a diatonic pattern based on the tonal center of D minor (#7).
pattern #40
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Coltrane’s improvisation on “Transition” contains three more interval
cycles based on the tritone as illustrated in Example 75. The entire passage is of
whole-tone derivation. The first diagramed cyclic interval pattern is a complete
octave and uses the pitches c#3, g2, and c#2 as the principal tritone interval
progression. Coltrane interpolates pitches a whole step beneath the notes of the
principal interval c#3 and g2. These are the circled tones b 2 and f2, respectively.
The resulting pattern resembles the Thesaurus pattern #3, diagramed as
Example 59. The second diagramed cyclic interval pattern in Example 75 is a
symmetric interpolation based on the tritone interval progression represented by
the pitches f2, b1, and f1. The symmetric interpolation is formed by the added
pitches c#2 and a1, placed one whole step above and one whole step beneath,
respectively, the intermediate pitch b1. The resulting cyclic interval pattern
covers a complete octave and resembles the Thesaurus pattern #30, diagramed
in this study as Example 72. The last diagramed cyclic interval pattern in this
excerpt uses the notes f2, b2, and f3 as the pitches of the principal interval
progression with an interpolation a whole step above f2 and b2 on the notes g2
and c#3, respectively. The resulting cyclic interval pattern spans one octave and
resembles the Thesaurus pattern #2, diagramed in this study as Example 55.
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Example 75: John Coltrane, Transition, transcribed by Andrew White
The final example of cyclic interval patterns based on the tritone interval
progression is an excerpt from Coltrane’s arrangement of the tune “Chim Chim
Cheree”, which David Wild claims, “In the group’s hands any trace of its Mary
Poppins origins were obliterated, as Coltrane angularizes the attractive theme
over a repetitive Tyner chord pattern.”83 In this excerpt there are two tritone and
one ditone cyclic interval patterns. All three cyclic patterns are diagramed in
Example 76, separated by vertical brackets because of their relatively close
proximity to one another. The first diagramed cyclic interval pattern is based on
a tritone interval progression. The pitches of the principal interval cycle are b1, f2,
and b2. The circled pitches c#2 and b2 indicate the interpolation each one whole
step above the pitches of the principal interval progression b1 and f2, respectively.
83
106
The resulting cycle resembles the Thesaurus pattern #2, with the relevant portion
to this example diagramed in Example 55. The second cycle is the ditone
pattern consisting of two augmented triads whose roots are one whole step
apart. This was the interval cycle based on the Thesaurus pattern #187,
diagramed in this study as Example 18b. Coltrane used this pattern as wholetone vocabulary in the context of a larger whole-tone passage in Examples 37,
39, 40, 41, and 42 of this study. The final cyclic pattern in Example 76 is a tritone
interval progression with a symmetric interpolation. The principal pitches of the
tritone interval in this cycle are g1, c#2, g2, and c#3. The symmetric interpolation
occurs when the pitches b1 and e-flat2 are inserted one whole step on either side
of c#2. The resulting symmetry is identical to the Thesaurus pattern #30, as
diagramed previously in Example 55. All three cyclic interval patterns diagramed
in Example 76 are part of the same whole-tone sonority.
Example 76: John Coltrane, Chim Chim Cheree, transcribed by Andrew White
The cyclic interval patterns included in this chapter include seventeen
distinct constructions based on the diatessaron, ditone, sesquitone, whole tone,
107
and tritone interval progressions. Sometimes the patterns have been repeated
verbatim with a change in the context of the material immediately surrounding
them. In other instances notes included in the original pattern are repeated and
developed melodically, while still other times the pattern has been extrapolated
on to the point that it is almost unrecognizable. In all cases the formation of
melodies around principal interval progressions represents a significant
contribution to jazz musical style that would not have existed otherwise.
108
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
This document has traced the influences and development of John
Coltrane’s major thirds cycles, beginning with their use as chord structure in
compositions of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Critical scholarly contributions
on this subject have been made by David Demsey, Andrew White, Walt
Weiskopf, Carl Woideck, Lewis Porter, and John Schott. Numerous examples of
instances of melodically implied major thirds cycles in the form of descending V7
– I cadences over the static harmony of compositions from Coltrane’s late period
(1965 – 1967) provide evidence that he continued to utilize these cycles long
after their appearance as chord structure in compositions from 1959 such as
“Countdown” and “Giant Steps”. These major thirds patterns can be varied in
length and clarity of implied progressions. Coltrane did not hesitate to imply
more than one major thirds cycle in a single improvisation. In fact, the
improvisation on the composition “Brasilia” includes all four major thirds cycles
covering all twelve major keys. Major thirds patterns from Coltrane’s last year of
recording (1967) do not always imply the clear V7 – I major thirds cyclic
progressions from 1965. However, they are shorter in length and more
numerous. These implied major thirds patterns provide structure for the parts of
the improvisation in which they appear. This is evident especially in the
examples taken from Coltrane’s recorded duets with drummer Rashied Ali where
the lack of harmonic structure is inherent. The structure of these late
109
compositions provided John Coltrane the opportunity to freely develop these
major thirds cycles as melodic vocabulary.
Cyclic patterns based solely on the progression of a principal interval can
be traced to the Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns by Nicolas
Slonimsky. Most of the patterns utilized by Coltrane out of the Thesaurus are
derived from intervallic progressions that divide one octave into equal parts.
Given John Coltrane’s penchant for the interval of the fourth, it is not surprising
that several of these patterns are utilized as well. There are examples of
Coltrane incorporating the cycle of fourths into his improvisations. The most
practical and widely used patterns by Coltrane from the Thesaurus of Scales and
Melodic Patterns are those of the ditone (major third), sesquitone (minor third),
whole tone, and tritone. Coltrane uses the shortest of these patterns motivically.
He extrapolates melodically from the pitches contained in the interval pattern,
sometimes to such an extent that it is difficult to identify the original cycle. The
extended cyclic interval patterns are used for structural purposes, their principal
tones serving as an organizational framework during portions of the
improvisation.
This study demonstrates with specific passages from John Coltrane’s
improvisations that the influence of Nicolas Slonimsky’s Thesaurus of Scales and
Melodic Patterns on the developing melodic vocabulary of John Coltrane was
profound. This influence can be traced to the initial development of major thirds
cycles used as chord structure through their application as melodic vocabulary.
The numerous cyclic interval patterns from Coltrane’s improvisations traced in
110
this document to the cyclic interval patterns in the Thesaurus provide evidence of
the important influence that Slonimsky’s treatise had on Coltrane’s developing
melodic vocabulary. John Coltrane's discovery of new vocabulary and new
structures included in the Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns is a result of
his constant need for change and growth. Carl Woideck called Coltrane "one of
the relatively few musicians in jazz history who embraced the ideal of continuous
artistic evolution."84 He goes on to say:
Coltrane's insatiable curiosity about music and its structures
found expression in his work-in-progress approach to his music.
Perhaps influenced by Miles Davis in this regard, Coltrane
seemed to celebrate musical style as a process, not as an arrival
point. If the ideal of steady change was one of the positive
hallmarks of his style, it was also a potential liability. Coltrane
could be obsessive in his need for change and in his perpetual
disatisfaction with what he had found in his search. His
audience needed familiar musical guideposts, which was
sometimes at odds with Coltrane's appetite for change; Coltrane
felt pulled in two directions.85
Andrew W hite states of Coltrane, "He could not grow within a standard structure
so he changed the mold."86 John Coltrane successfully changed the established
direction of jazz style without abandoning the traditional tenets of that style. This
qualifies Coltrane’s unique contribution to jazz melodic vocabulary as innovation.
Examination and analysis of these cyclic patterns using the Slonimsky
terminology leads to a better understanding of the Thesaurus from a pedagogical
84
Ibid., xiii.
85
Ibid., xiv.
86
White, 26.
111
standpoint and thus allows this cyclic vocabulary to be more extensively
assimilated into the language of jazz.
112
SELECTED BIBILIOGRAPHY
Books
Antokoletz, Elliott. The Music of Bela Bartok: A Study of Tonality and
Progression in Twentieth-Century Music. Los Angeles: University of
California Press, 1984.
Antokoletz, Elliott. Twentieth-Century Music. Austin: University of Texas, 1992.
Baker, David N. The Jazz Style of John Coltrane: A Musical and Historical
Perspective. Lebanon, IN., 1980
Cole, Bill. John Coltrane. New York: Schirmer Books, 1976; reprint , New York:
Da Capo, 1993.
Gridley, Mark C. Jazz Styles: History and Analysis. 7th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2000.
Hester, Karlton Edward. The Melodic and Polyrhythmic Development of John
Coltranes’s Spontaneous Composition in a Racist Society. Lewiston, N.Y.:
The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd., 1997.
Jost, Ekkehard. Free Jazz. 1975. New York: Da Capo, 1994.
Nisenson, Eric. Ascension: John Coltrane and His Quest. New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 1993.
Perl, George. The Listening Composer. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1990.
Porter, Lewis. John Coltrane: His Life and Music. Ann Arbor: The University of
Michigan Press, 1998
Schott, John, “We Are Revealing a Hand That Will Later Reveal Us: Notes on
Form and Harmony in Coltrane’s Work,” Arcana: Musicians on Music, ed.
John Zorn (New York, NT”Hips Road and Branary Books, 2000), 345-66.
Simpkins, Cuthbert Ormond, M.D. Coltrane: A Biography. 1975. Baltimore:
Black Classic, 1989.
113
Slonimsky, Nicolas. Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns. New York:
Schirmer Books, 1947.
Thomas, J.C. Chasin’ The Trane: The Music and Mystique of John Coltrane.
New York: Da Capo Press, 1975.
Weiskopf, Walt and Ramon Ricker. Coltrane: A Player’s Guide To His Harmony.
New Albany, Indiana: Jamey Aebersold Jazz Inc., 1991.
Weiskopf, Walt. Intervalic Improvisation, The Modern Sound: A Step Beyond
Linear Improvisation. New Albany, Indiana: Jamey Aebersold Jazz Inc.,
1995.
White, Andrew Nathaniel, III. Trane ‘n Me (A semi-autobiography): A Treatise on
The Music of John Coltrane. Washington, DC: Andrew’s Musical
Enterprises, Inc, 1981.
Woideck, Carl. Charlie Parker: His Music and Life. Ann Arbor: The University of
Michigan Press, 1996.
Woideck, Carl. The John Coltrane Companion: Five Decades of Commentary.
New York: Schirmer Books, 1998.
Articles
Antokoletz, Elliott. “Interval Cycles in Stravinsky’s Early Ballets” Journal of the
American Musicological Society 39 (Fall 1986) 578-614.
Cohn, Richard. “Introduction to Neo-Riemannian Theory: A Survey and a
Historical Perspective” Journal of Music Theory 24.2 (1998) 167-79.
Cohn, Richard. “Weitzmann’s Regions, My Cycles, and Douthett’s Dancing
Cubes” Music Theory Spectrum : ( ): 89-103.
Cohn, Richard. “Maximally Smooth Cycles, Hexatonic Systems, and the
Analysis of Late-Romantic Triadic Progressions” Music Analysis 15.1
(1996): 9-40.
Demsey, David. “Chromatic Third Relations in the Music of John Coltrane”
Annual Review of Jazz Studies 5 (1991): 145-80.
Hughes, Allen. “Cover to Cover: The Inimitable Slonimsky” Chamber Music 18.1
(February 2001): 26-7.
114
Karpinski, Gary S. “Structural Functions of the Interval Cycles in Early 20thCentury Music” International Journal of Musicology 4 (1995), 183-206
Kostelanetz, Richard. “Nicholas Slonimsky” 21st Century Music 7:6 (June 2000):
9-10.
Kurzdorfer, James. “Outrageous Clusters: Dissonant Semitonal Cells in the
Music of Thelonious Monk” Annual Review of Jazz Studies :8 (1996): 181201.
Lundergan, Edward. “Musical Metaphor: Cyclic-Interval Structures in Britten’s
‘War Requiem’” Choral Journal 38:7 (February 1998): 9-15, 17-20.
McDonald, Michael Bruce. “Traning the Nineties, Or the Present Relevance of
John Coltrane’s Music of Theophany and Negation.” African American
Review 29.2 (1995): 275-82.
Perle, George. “Berg’s Master Array of the Interval Cycles” The Musical
Quarterly 63.1 January 1977: 1-30.
Ruhlmann, William. “Going to Extremes: John Coltrane on Record.” Goldmine 23
June 1995: 18-38, 136-52.
Smith, Joseph. “Using Slonimsky’s Thesaurus” Keyboard Classics and Piano
Stylist (formerly Keyboard Classics) 15 (1995): 25 + n1.
Stone, Reppard. “The Peregrination of Slonimsky’s Thesaurus of Scales and
Melodic Patterns” Jazz Research Papers (NAJE) 9 (1989) 239-45.
Discographies
Fujioka, Yasuhiro with Lewis Porter and Yoh-Ichi Hamada. John Coltrane: A
Discography and Musical Biography. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1995.
Jepsen, Jorgen Grunnet. A Discography of John Coltrane. Copenhagen NV,
Denmark: Karl Emil Knudsen Publisher, 1969.
Transcriptions
White, Andrew. Transcriptions of John Coltrane solos. Washington, DC:
Andrew’s Musical Enterprises, 2001.
115

CYCLIC PATTERNS IN JOHN COLTRANE’S MELODIC VOCABULARY AS

Transcription

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